If Peter Maggs was teaching it, Jovan Jovanovic was taking it.
That’s how the future patent attorney — then fresh out of the UI College of Engineering and new to the UI College of Law — eventually came to approach his studies in his second act at Illinois.
”I remember the first day of being a 1L at the College of Law. After studying engineering at the U of I, where I saw everything as black and white, I had now walked into the land of the gray," says the founding partner at the Watson Intellectual Property Group (BS '91, mechanical engineering; JD '94).
“I remember Professor Peter Maggs fondly, as he would ask questions — for which I had no answer — and hope that he would not call on me.
“By the end of that year, he had completely rewired the way that I thought – he taught me that the ‘real’ world lies in the gray and not in the black and white, and I was eager to answer his questions. I tried to take every class he offered from that point forward.”
In between working toward dual degrees, Jovanovic carved out time for fun and games, too.
“I fondly remember IMPE, where we went every day from the Six Pack dorms to play basketball. Back then, it would not be a surprise to find some of the Flyin’ Illini playing a pickup game.
“I remember playing in a pickup game with Nick Anderson and Ervin Small. A true highlight of undergrad.
“I lived on Green Street my final year of undergrad. It was awesome to have O’Malley’s, Gully’s and Murphy’s only steps away — with La Bamba only down the street. Great memories.”
