Joseph Francis Cunningham's Obituary
Joseph Francis CunninghamJoseph Francis Cunningham, 81, of Arlington VA, Rancho Mirage CA, and Solana Beach CA, died at his home in Solana Beach CA after a long illness.A Rochester, NY native and graduate of the Aquinas Institute, Joseph Cunningham earned his undergraduate degree from John Carroll University and his law degree from Columbia University. After serving in the U.S. Army as a First Lieutenant, he returned to the University of Rochester completing his master’s degree in 1967 with a book–length dissertation on American foreign policy in the Philippines. In 2016, he was awarded an honorary degree, doctor of laws from the University of Rochester.In 1970, he established Cunningham & Associates, an insurance defense and civil litigation firm serving clients in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. He tried hundreds of civil cases to verdict, and negotiated resolutions of thousands more during a rewarding career spanning fifty years.Committed to helping others receive the exceptional educational opportunities he received, Joe and his wife, Andrea, established the Joseph F. Cunningham Professor of History at the University of Rochester. They also created the Joseph F. and Andrea H. Cunningham Endowment Fund for the Humanities to increase opportunities for all university students, regardless of their backgrounds, so that they might obtain a fuller appreciation for the world through the humanities. Cunningham also funded and established chairs in commercial and insurance law at Columbia University as well as scholarships at the London School of Economics, the State University of New York at Geneseo, and John Carroll University and established the Joseph F. ’53 and Andrea H. Cunningham Law & Business Center at the Aquinas Institute.He is survived by his loving wife Andrea, sons Benjamin Cunningham and Joseph P. Cunningham, daughters Nicole Cunningham and Regan Cunningham, 9 grandchildren and his cousin Kaye Meehan.
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