CCBC Congratulates Professor Pitman Potter On His Retirement

CCBC congratulates Professor Pitman Potter, who is retiring July 1 from UBC and from his role as a Special Advisor to CCBC. Dr. Potter served on the CCBC board for many years and has been an incredible resource to the CCBC member community, at those who have attended his training on negotiating in China can attest.

Below is the announcement from the dean of UBC’s law school about Dr. Potter’s retirement and his illustrious career:

Dear friends and colleagues,

I’m writing to announce that Professor Pitman Potter will be retiring at the end of this month, after 30 years at the Allard School of Law. Ordinarily, we would hold an in-person event to mark this important occasion, and we still hope to do so when conditions permit. For now, I pass on some of the highlights of his long and rich career, and ask that you join me in congratulating Professor Potter and wishing him all the best for the next chapter of his life.

Professor Potter graduated with a BA in Chinese History from George Washington University in 1978, going on to complete an MA in Political Science from the University of Washington two years later followed by a law degree (JD) in 1985 and a PhD in Political Science (1986). He worked as an associate attorney with LeSourd and Patten in Seattle from 1985 to 1986, going on to work with Graham & James in San Francisco and Beijing from 1987 to 1990. During this period, he also taught courses in international trade and investment law, secured transactions, and negotiation at the Peking University Law Department.

Professor Potter came to UBC as assistant professor in 1990, and was appointed to associate professor in 1992. He soon assumed a number of leadership roles in directing our graduate program, the Chinese Legal Studies program, and then as Acting Director for the Centre for Asian Legal Studies in 1995. In 1996, he was promoted to full Professor, and in 1999 he assumed leadership of the Institute of Asian Research, along with an appointment as HSBC Chair in Asian Research. In 2015, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.

Highlights from his career UBC and the law school include restarting the exchange relationship with Peking University after the tragedy of Tiananmen; building a Chinese and Asian law curriculum at the law school, designing and implementing the PhD program in law; chairing the visit to UBC by the Dalai Lama in 2004; and stewarding two successive multi-year, multi-million dollar SSHRC MCRI projects, with attendant opportunities for international scholarly collaboration, graduate student support, policy advising, professional education, and a wide array of research and writing projects.

Professor Pitman has dedicated endless energy to supporting and mentoring graduate students and academics from around the world. His research projects have been highly collaborative, building and facilitating global research networks and helping establish the careers of junior scholars. He has supervised close to 90 students over his nearly 30 years here, in addition to co-supervising and teaching many more.

Warm regards,

Catherine

Catherine Dauvergne, QC
Dean
Peter A. Allard School of Law
The University of British Columbia