Marcus L. Plant, distinguished University of Michigan law professor and representative to the nation's top governing bodies in amateur sports, died suddenly at his Ann Arbor home Sunday, July 15, 1984. He was 72 years old.

Plant was a Law School faculty member for 36 years, during which time he worked and wrote in several fields, including workers' compensation and employment rights, torts, the law of medical practice, and medical-legal problems. He was the author of Cases on the Law of Torts (1953) and co-author of several editions (1962, 1974, 1980) of Cases and Materials on Workers' Compensation and Employment Rights. His exploration of the relationships between law and medicine resulted in The Law of Medical Practice (1959), which he coauthored with Burke Shartel. Plant continued to teach following his formal retirement in 1982 and was visiting professor at other law schools.

"Marc Plant was a warm personal colleague, but he was also the epitome of the scholar-teacher who makes our University a great one," said Law Professor Allan Smith, a long-time colleague and former Law School dean and U-M interim president. "He was thorough in his research, often anticipating developments in his field of expertise, and was devoted to his teaching career. He will be greatly missed."
Former students, Law School colleagues, and members of the U-M Athletics Department joined Plant's family and his many other friends at a memorial service at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church. Among the speakers to eulogize him was Law Professor John Reed.

As Reed noted, Plant's busy "other life" in athletics had no effect on his extraordinary commitment to the Law School. In 1978, Plant completed a 24-year tenure as the University's faculty representative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the Big Ten athletic conference, and to related groups. During eight consecutive three-year terms, he also represented the U-M in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and was a member of the U-M Board in Control of Intercollegiate Athletics. In addition to becoming the dean of Big Ten faculty representatives, he was president of the NCAA in 1967-68, served many years on NCAA policy-making committees, and from 1968 to 1972 represented the association on the board of directors and executive committee of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Plant was the NCAA’s president when it established its first committee concerned with increasing women's participation in intercollegiate sports.

Plant was born November 10, 1911, in New London, Wisconsin. He received a B.A. degree and a master's degree in economics from Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin. After teaching high school for three years, he entered the U-M Law School, earning his degree in 1938. His legal career included private practice in Milwaukee and New York and service with the Office of Price Administration.

-- From the University of Michigan Law School's Law Quadrangle Notes, V. 29, Iss. 01 (Fall 1984).
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