Professor emeritus James William Spears, a professor of law at the William H. Bowen School of Law for 38 years, died Sept. 7 at his home in Little Rock. He was 74.

Spears taught from 1965 until his retirement in 2003, teaching Civil Procedure, Equity and Restitution, and Admiralty Law. All but one year of his teaching career was at the Bowen School. He received the UALR Outstanding Teacher Award and in 1971, he served Arkansas as a representative to the 1971 Constitutional Convention.

Dedicated to the Bowen School of Law and to current law students, Spears established the Guy Moore Law Scholarship in memory of his uncle, a Newton County attorney.

Susanne Roberts, Spears’ wife of 21 years, is a member of the Bowen class of 1982.