Jesse Dukeminier, 78; Taught for 40 Years at UCLA School of Law

Jesse Dukeminier, 78, a leading scholar, author and teacher of property law for 40 years in the UCLA School of Law, died of heart disease Sunday at his home in Los Angeles.

Dukeminier devoted his professional life to the simplification of the law of property. His casebooks “Property” and “Wills, Trusts and Estates” are the most widely used books in their field in the United States.

Dukeminier, who early in his career was the first UCLA Law faculty member to receive a University Distinguished Teaching Award, was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Teaching. He also had been honored with the School of Law’s Rutter Award for Excellence in Teaching and was elected professor of the year by two graduating classes, most recently in 1992.

Born in West Point, Miss., Dukeminier served in the Army during World War II. He received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1948 and his law degree from Yale in 1951. He practiced law with a Wall Street firm, then taught at the Harvard and University of Chicago law schools. He taught at UCLA for 40 years, beginning in 1963.