Law School Auditorium Renamed to Honor Guthrie T. Abbott

The auditorium will become the Abbott Weems Auditorium, recognizing Abbott alongside longtime law professor Robert A. Weems, whose name was added to the space before his retirement in 2013. The renaming ceremony is scheduled for 3 p.m. Oct. 30 in the law center atrium and is open to the public.

More than an honor for two distinguished faculty members, the renaming recognizes a partnership and friendship that helped shape legal education and practice throughout Mississippi for decades. Abbott and Weems first met as Ole Miss law students and have remained close friends for 62 years.

Through their teaching careers and continuing legal education seminars presented across the state, the two professors influenced an estimated 36,000 law students, practicing attorneys and judges. For nearly three decades, their annual seminars in north, central and south Mississippi were fixtures for legal professionals.

"The impact that professors Abbott and Weems have had on thousands of law students and lawyers is nothing short of phenomenal," said Frederick G. Slabach, professor and dean of the School of Law. "I was fortunate to have been taught by both. Their impact on our state and nation will be felt for generations to come."

Chancellor Emeritus Robert C. Khayat, who attended law school alongside Abbott and Weems, said their influence extends well beyond the classroom.

"Guff Abbott and Bob Weems are truly legendary members of the law school faculty and leaders in continuing legal education in Mississippi," Khayat said.

"Between them both being fine teachers and the extra effort they made to reach out to practicing lawyers with their yearly seminars on Mississippi law, 'Abbott Weems' is as much in the DNA of the practice of law in Mississippi as the Ole Miss law school is."

Abbott earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from the university. After practicing law in Gulfport, he returned to Oxford in 1970 to join the law faculty. Over the course of his career, he was named Outstanding Law Professor five times and received the university's Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award in 1986.

"Bob and I both taught most of the lawyers in the state of Mississippi, and we like to feel like we had an impact," Abbott said.

"I loved teaching law and was so excited to get up each day and go to work that it didn't really feel like work. I feel very blessed to have been called to a profession I loved so much."

Weems, who taught wills and estates, torts, and evidence during his 36 years on the faculty, said Abbott's influence extended not only to generations of students, but also to his own career.

"There is simply no way to overstate what Guff's friendship has meant to me," Weems said. "Guff is without a doubt one of the most outstanding people to ever teach at the UM law school, and I felt his name needed to be part of the school in a significant manner."

Weems said Abbott was among the friends who encouraged him to join the faculty, helping launch a career that led to their decades-long collaboration in seminars across the state.

For Abbott, the recognition is particularly meaningful because it permanently links his name with that of a lifelong friend.

"The biggest part of it is having my name associated with Bob, a man of the highest integrity, a consummate professional and one of the best friends I've ever had," Abbott said. "It's just a tremendous honor."

Top: The university will rename the auditorium at the Robert C. Khayat Law Center in honor of Guthrie 'Guff' T. Abbott. The Abbott Weems Auditorium also honors Abbott's longtime colleague and friend Robert A. Weems. Photo by Robert Jordan/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services