Allen Steward Hammond, IV transitioned peacefully on January 11, 2026, at his home in Stanford, CA at the age of 75 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. Allen was Professor of Law Emeritus and holder of the Phil and Bobbie Sanfilippo Chair at Santa Clara Law School where he had also been Director of the Broadband Institute of California.

Professor Hammond began his career as part of President Jimmy Carter’s administration, where he was charged with launching the Minority Telecommunications Development Program, which expanded minority ownership in the media. He later worked at the Media Access Project, which took on public interest concerns of media ownership, access, and fairness. He served as general counsel at WJLA-TV in DC and later in the general counsel’s offices at Satellite Business Systems and MCI, before becoming a professor of telecommunications law and contracts at New York Law School and, later, at Santa Clara Law School. His passion for equity led him to serve for many years on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California.

Throughout these years, his policy work and scholarship promoted strategies for reducing bias while expanding fairness and access in the media. As media policy changed substantially in the 1980s, he presciently warned about the dangers of concentration of media ownership and loss of the Fairness Doctrine that once ensured a more balanced and inclusive approach to media messages and participation. He co-authored the definitive case book on Communications Law in the Public Interest which he hoped would inspire generations of lawyers to advocate for fair access to transformative technologies.

Allen was a beloved professor who believed strongly in the importance of effectively supporting learning and of helping law students understand their power and responsibility. He was voted Professor of the Year by the school’s students in the year before he retired. His son Sean, also a lawyer, met numerous Santa Clara Law School graduates over the years who heaped praise on "Professor Hammond's" approach to teaching and mentorship.

Allen was a man of many talents. When not teaching telecommunications and contracts law, he enthusiastically taught body pump, spin, and step classes at Gold’s Gym and the East Palo Alto YMCA. His classes were electric and in demand. He played pick-up basketball whenever and wherever possible, overcame a fear of water to complete a short-form triathlon, and passed on a love of movement to many, along with the will to persevere in the face of challenges. He was also a talented songwriter, poet, musician, artist, dance teacher to his friends, and storyteller to his children. While in New York, he coached soccer and softball for his children’s teams, earning a reputation as the positive coach who inspired an appreciation for teamwork, nurtured a love of play regardless of the outcome, and supported each young person’s efforts (all while calming often overwrought parents who, the kids agreed, needed to chill out).

A devoted husband and father, Allen was born in Washington DC to Jean Lenora Gregory and Allen Steward Hammond, III. He attended Woodrow Wilson High School in DC, which he helped to desegregate; earned his BA at Grinnell College in Iowa; and earned a JD and a Master’s in Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

While finishing school in Philadelphia, he met his wife, Linda, at the Education Law Center, where he was a summer law clerk and she was the summer research assistant (while finishing her dissertation on school funding inequalities at Temple University). They fell in love at first conversation; he proposed 2 weeks later, and they were married within the year, producing three wonderful children and opening their home to many other young people who came to feel that they had a home away from home. They shared passions for progressive politics and were active in civil rights efforts in the courts and in the streets. Allen and Linda were so much in sync that they could read each other’s minds and finish each other’s sentences. They were often accused of having an unfair advantage in bid whist and charades.

Allen is survived by Linda Darling-Hammond, his wife of 49 years; their three children Kia, Elena, and Sean Darling-Hammond; spouses Terrance Turner and Valentina Xavier; grandchildren, Jared, Kofi, and Cyrus; and his siblings: Denise, Vincent, John, Ronald, Karen, and Khalifati.

A memorial service will be held in-person and on-line at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on January 31st. To RSVP to attend the memorial in person, please RSVP here: http://pp.events/allenhammond

For event updates or to leave a memory, including photos, videos, or notes, consult Allen’s EverLoved page here: https://everloved.com/life-of…

In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations in Allen’s honor to the ACLU of Northern California, where he sat on the board of directors, here: https://action.aclu.org/give/…

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