糖心vlog

After 32 years of teaching, Professor John Sprankling is retiring from the 糖心vlog鈥檚 McGeorge School of Law. A cornerstone of McGeorge鈥檚 faculty and a nationally renowned expert in property law, Sprankling leaves behind a legacy of academic excellence. 

A Los Angeles native and fourth-generation educator, he began his legal career at Miller, Starr & Regalia, specializing in property and land use law. After nearly 15 years in practice, he shifted into teaching, first at UC Hastings and later joining McGeorge in 1992. 

鈥淭eaching has always felt natural to me,鈥� Sprankling said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 something incredibly rewarding about guiding students through their first year of law school, a time when they鈥檙e often anxious and uncertain. Helping them find confidence and purpose is the most meaningful part of what we do.鈥� 

Students named him Professor of the Year in acknowledgment of his exceptional teaching in 2012, 2017, and 2020. He received the university鈥檚 Eberhardt Teacher-Scholar Award in 2011. 

鈥淧rofessor John Sprankling is an inspiring and deeply knowledgeable scholar and educator. I took his Property class, which remains one of my favorite courses in law school. His clarity in explaining complex doctrines, paired with a genuine passion for the subject, made every lecture both engaging and memorable. I feel fortunate to have learned from him and will carry his insights with me well beyond the classroom,鈥� said Simyllina Chen, a second-year law student at McGeorge School of Law. 

Sprankling is the author or co-author of seven books, including the widely used casebook Property: A Contemporary Approach, which has been adopted at more than 120 law schools across the country. His work is credited with making a challenging subject more accessible to students and is a staple in many legal classrooms. 

His articles have appeared in many journals, including the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, the Cornell Law Review, the George Washington Law Review, the Stanford Journal of International Law, the UCLA Law Review, and the University of Chicago Law Review. 

In 2005, the John G. Sprankling Faculty Scholarship Award was established to honor Professor Sprankling's dedicated service to McGeorge as Interim Dean and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2000 to 2005. His unwavering commitment to legal scholarship and support for his colleagues' achievements were reflected in this award. The award, funded by an endowment from the Dean鈥檚 Discretionary Fund within the Pacific McGeorge Annual Fund, recognizes significant contributions to legal scholarship by tenured or tenure-track faculty members. Recipients are nominated by a Selection Committee and can only receive the award once within a five-year period. 

Over the years, Sprankling also taught at Stanford, Berkeley, and Santa Clara Law and brought those experiences back to enrich McGeorge鈥檚 programs. In addition, he taught summer law courses at law schools in Austria, China, and Russia.  A highlight was co-teaching a course in McGeorge鈥檚 Salzburg, Austria program with Supreme Court Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. 

鈥淲hat鈥檚 kept me here for 32 years are the students and my colleagues,鈥� Sprankling said. 鈥淚鈥檝e learned so much from them. Teaching first-year students 鈥� helping them through the most uncertain part of their legal journey 鈥� has been one of the most rewarding parts of my career.鈥� 

"Professor John Sprankling's three decades of service at McGeorge School of Law have been marked by unparalleled dedication, excellence, and integrity. His impact on our students, faculty, and the broader legal community is a testament to his passion for teaching, collegiality, and excellence as a scholar, and, in fact, the law school named its annual scholarship award for him. John was that unique colleague who did every facet of the job as well as it could be done, and his legacy includes the minds of the hundreds of legal professionals he helped train, the faculty colleagues he mentored, and his leadership in advancing the institution. We are deeply grateful for his contributions and wish him the very best in his well-deserved retirement," said Dean Michael Hunter Schwartz. 

In recognition of his exceptional contributions to the university and the legal profession, Sprankling received the Order of the Pacific in May of 2025, the highest honor awarded by 糖心vlog. 

In retirement, Sprankling will continue to update his books over the coming years and looks forward to spending more time with his family and grandchildren. But he hasn鈥檛 ruled out a return to teaching in an adjunct capacity.