Bob Hemenway was my boss. He was also my friend. He touched my life and made it better as he did for thousands of people during his career. He was a man of principle who did not hesitate to take a position he believed in, even if it meant that he might suffer for it.

Bob was not a remote chancellor. When I was a dean, he would often attend meetings simply to let the deans and other administrators know that he was involved in their issues and cared about what they thought. Often, if there was something on his mind, he would give one of the deans a call and chat about it. He always made it clear that he valued the opinions of others, even though the decisions were his to make.

For many years after I stepped down as dean, I would drive over to the chancellor’s residence at 6 a.m. on Friday mornings to meet Bob. I would inevitably find him sipping a cup of coffee and reading this newspaper. Sometimes he was happy with what he read. Sometimes, not so much. But every Friday we would walk around campus for an hour. That hour was for free and uninhibited discussion.

Most of the time Bob would talk about what was on his mind and ask my opinion. Occasionally, I would bring up a subject that I felt he needed to think about. He was always receptive. Sometimes we talked about Kansas University. Sometimes we talked about politics. Sometimes we talked about books. And sometimes we just talked about whatever we were thinking

I cherish those quiet moments I had with Bob. I learned then that he was a remarkably thoughtful and compassionate man and that he cared deeply about the university, his family and friends and about this country and humanity.

Bob’s was a life well-lived.  He enriched KU and Lawrence and Kansas with his insight, his caring, and with his enormous energy. He made KU and this state a better place than it was when he first arrived. But Bob Hemenway’s life cannot be adequately measured simply by his administrative achievements, by the progress made at the university during his tenure. To do so would be to drastically underestimate his accomplishments and his impact as a man and as a teacher.

Bob Hemenway’s greatest achievement was in the many lives he improved and enriched through his commitment and his compassion and his determination to make the world a better place. With his passing, the world is diminished. So many of us will miss him. But his legacy will live on.

— Mike Hoeflich, a distinguished professor in the Kansas University School of Law, writes a regular column for the Journal-World.