William W. “Rusty” Park – 50th Reunion Essay
William W. “Rusty” Park
36 King Street
Cohasset, MA 02025
wwpark@bu.edu
617-353-3149
Education: Columbia Law School, JD, 1972
National Service: Naval ROTC, Midshipman, 1965–1969
Career: International Arbitrator. Law Professor, Boston University.
College: Timothy Dwight
Broad consequences sometimes flow from an event that seemed trivial at the moment. Such was so for the decision to take a leave from Yale during my third year to study in Paris. That choice ultimately led to a career spent largely overseas. After law school, I spent several years practicing in Paris. Then a stint teaching law in England at Cambridge, followed by almost two decades in Geneva consulting for a financial group controlled by the late Edmond Safra.
Professional life ultimately focused on international dispute resolution, acting as arbitrator for cross-border commercial and financial cases. In this connection, I served as president of the London Court of International Arbitration, arbitrator on the Claims Resolution Tribunal in Zürich (established to address so-called “Holocaust Bank Account” cases) and the World Bank’s ICSID investor-state arbitration panel.
In parallel with the work overseas, I accepted a professorship on the Law Faculty at Boston University. By the time of our reunion, I shall have served 40 years teaching and writing on international commercial and financial law.
In “Little Gidding” the poet T. S. Eliot suggested that the end of our exploring will bring us to the place where we started, which we shall then know for the first time. Such was my own trajectory, ultimately returning to live in Cohasset, the small town of my upbringing, on the South Shore of Massachusetts Bay. Good luck included finding land to build a house on a spot that continues to cause great delight, particularly when back home on weekends.
As a freshman, much energy was spent agonizing over religious questions, trying to adapt my Unitarian background with a newfound Christian faith. Over the years, the spiritual journey has continued with twists and turns, arriving at a rough reconciliation between the two traditions.
I now serve as trustee of King’s Chapel, a downtown Boston church.
Our class survey posed questions about differences between the person we have become and the person we were at graduation. An equally interesting inquiry might look at the gap between the boys who arrived in New Haven in September 1965, and the ones who departed in June 1969. Perhaps an item for discussion when we meet again.
The past half century has included many rich experiences, even if tinged with regrets derived from some less-than-optimal choices. I have made (and kept) some great friends along the way. All in all, very lucky indeed.
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