Joseph W. Morris died on November 11 at age 99. Morris was elected to ALI in 1972.
He received his baccalaureate from Washburn University. After graduation, Morris joined the U.S. Navy during World War II and served in Honolulu, Hawaii. After the war, he obtained his law degree from Washburn University School of Law.
While in law school, he met Dorothy Deane Conklin, a student at Washburn. Following law school, he enrolled in the graduate program of the University of Michigan Law School where he earned an LL.M and an S.J.D. degree.
After returning home from the University of Michigan Law School, he and Deane Conklin were married, and he joined the legal department of Shell Oil Company where he worked in both Tulsa and New York City for 12 years. Deane, to whom he had been married for 38 years, predeceased him.
In 1960, Joe joined the legal department of Amerada Petroleum Corporation where he served as Associate General Counsel and General Counsel in Tulsa. In 1972, he was named as Dean of the College of Law of the University of Tulsa.
In 1974, he was appointed United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Oklahoma. He served as Judge and Chief Judge until 1978, after which he was named Vice President and General Counsel of Shell Oil Company in Houston.