Hugh Macgill served as dean at the University of Connecticut School of Law from 1990 to 2000.

Called a transformational figure who led the University of Connecticut School of Law during a time of growth and prosperity from 1990 to 2000, former dean Hugh Macgill died Thursday morning. He was 79.

Macgill was best known for his years as dean. But Friday, former students in his popular constitutional law and legal history classes also remembered him as a dynamic professor with a knack for engaging would-be attorneys.

Pullman & Comley attorney Diane Whitney described Macgill as her favorite professor. She was a student in his constitutional law class in the 1980s, and said he was demanding, entertaining, fair and that he taught law in a way that made students want to become attorneys.

"People looked forward to taking his class," said Whitney, who also got to know Macgill after she graduated to her role as member of the University of Connecticut Law School Foundation. "He had a real zest for life, and it showed in his teachings. He was animated, and had an interesting, fast and dry wit that was always on display when he was teaching."

Macgill joined the faculty in 1971, and taught until he became dean in 1990. He then taught again for 14 more years after he left the administrative role.

Howard, Kohn, Sprague & FitzGerald partner Jamie Sullivan graduated from the law school in 1992, and also took Macgill's constitutional law class.

"He was a real wordsmith. He could turn a phrase better than anyone I've ever known," said Sullivan, who also got to know Macgill after graduating. "He knew his subject matter extremely well. He did not just repeat what was in the textbooks, but he'd spin it in a way that would be highly educational."

Harold Schramm, a professor of English, Justice & Law Administration at Western Connecticut State University, called Macgill "a mentor."

Schramm  graduated from the University of Connecticut School of Law in 1974, three years after Macgill joined the faculty.

"I never left one of his classes without having unexpected ideas floating around," Schramm said. "His questions were a remarkable guide to deeper analysis."

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Timothy Fisher, the current dean at the University of Connecticut School of Law and a professor of law, said Macgill played a pivotal role in the organization's growth.

"This institution had two truly transformational deans. They were Phillip Blumberg, dean from 1974 to 1984, and Hugh Macgill," Fisher said. "Phillip changed the trajectory of the school, and changed us from being a local school to a national school. And Hugh built upon that to give us the presence we have today."

The initiatives undertaken during Macgill's tenure as dean were remarkable, Fisher said.

During Macgill's leadership, Fisher said, the university built its law library, established its tax clinic, saw a major increase in its endowment, established the university's first two master of law programs, established an insurance law center, and established the Connecticut Insurance Law Journal, a first-of-its-kind law journal.

"Those 10 years were triumphant." Fisher said.

When offered the job of dean, Macgill imposed one condition on himself: He said he wouldn't take the job if he couldn't pass the current Connecticut bar examination, Fisher said.

And that showed a lot about Macgill.

"It told you about his values," Fisher said. "He cared about every student's experience, and what they were going through."

That care went beyond the classroom, according to Karen DeMeola, a 1996 law school graduate and current assistant dean for finance. administration and enrollment.

DeMeola recalled how Macgill stood with gay and lesbian students, who had wanted to bar military recruiters from the campus because of discriminatory policies based on sexual orientation.

"He was a dean who made all of us feel like part of the community," DeMeola said. "He saw us and heard us, and had our backs."

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