John Marshall Kernochan

Who was John Marshall Kernochan?

John Marshall Kernochan was a law professor, composer and music publisher who founded Columbia Law School's Kernochan Center for Law, Media and the Arts. His pioneering work in intellectual property law helped spur stronger protections for artists.

Kernochan was born August 3, 1919, the only child of composer Marshall Kernochan and Caroline Rigney Hatch, a World War I nurse.

Kernochan prepped at St. Mark's School in Southborough, Massachusetts. There, for the school's yearbook, he produced memorable verses on that year's graduates, which kicked off a lifelong pastime of writing doggerel verse and bawdy limericks. He also composed religious music.

After a year at Princeton University, he dropped out to devote himself to composing. He studied under Howard Brockway, and spent a year visiting Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. Kernochan composed several choral and orchestral compositions, which were later recorded. He transferred to Harvard University, graduated in 1942, and married Adelaide Chatfield-Taylor, the daughter of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's assistant treasury secretary, Wayne Chatfield-Taylor.

When the U.S. entered World War II, he enlisted. On his way to his posting, he composed his best-known recorded song, "As I Go Riding By." Following the war he attended Columbia Law School; he subsequently became a professor there.