Edward A. Purnell ’76

It is with sadness that the class officers report the death of Edward A. Purnell on June 27, 2025 in Ohio, of cancer. He was a law partner at Jones Day in Ohio for two decades and later a professor of law at Handong International Law School in Pohang, Korea until his retirement in 2023.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Ed graduated as valedictorian from Euclid High School. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Dr. Edward W. Purnell ’50, to Princeton. Ed majored in English, worked on the Nassau Literary Review, and was a member of Stevenson Hall. Ed graduated cum laude, his senior thesis titled “Sojourn in the City: An Ecological Approach to the Poetics of Urban Space.”

Stephen Fallon remembered, “Ed Purnell was a great friend at Princeton; all who knew him treasured his intellectual depth, his gentle good humor, and his dry wit. Ed and I were not Prospect Avenue people, so as seniors we dined together in Stevenson Hall at the top of New South, on what was then the southwest corner of campus.

After graduation, Ed headed with the Peace Corps to Korea, where he met his wife Inwoo Lee, whom I had the good fortune to meet decades ago. Upon returning from Korea, Ed earned an M.A. from the American Graduate School of International Management and a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School. Ed began his career at Manufacturers Hanover Trust, working in New York City and then back in Korea at the bank’s Seoul office. Ed ended his time at MHT as vice president of the International Division. His legal career culminated in his two decades at Jones Day, where as a partner he worked in Cleveland and Chicago from 1990 to 2010.

Korea then beckoned once again, and Ed and Inwoo moved to Pohang as Ed took up his final professional role, as Professor of Law at Hangdong International Law School, where he won the Teacher of the Year Award for four of his fourteen years on the faculty.

We reconnected in 2011, at the beginning of his time at Pohang, and we stayed in touch, though I’m sad to say not often enough. Our correspondence revolved around family news, what we were reading, his work teaching law and mine teaching Milton and Shakespeare. He described his teaching approach this way, ’I focus on how very particular traditions (Christian, Confucian) are better at inculcating the empathy needed to care about people in faraway places than the secular model. Sometimes it feels like being a sheep in wolves’ clothing.’ In one of his last messages, he asked me why Milton’s Adam and Eve were given animal skins to wear after the Fall—why weren’t the fig leaves enough?”

Ed was a family man who cherished spending time with his wife and two daughters, especially on trips to Lake Erie, Hawaii, Florida, and of course South Korea. He was active in the Korean Central Presbyterian Church, leading Bible studies and mission trips to Africa, Asia, and Central and South America.

The class officers send sincere condolences to his wife, Inwoo Lee Purnell; daughters, Zita Purnell and Rebecca Lee (spouse Sean Lee); granddaughter, Tatum Lee; and siblings. Ed’s funeral was held on June 30, 2025 at the Korean Central Presbyterian Church in Brecksville, Ohio. The family obituary is online at

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/edward-purnell-obituary?id=58742962

Ed will be remembered at two services on the Princeton campus: the Princeton University Service of Remembrance at the University Chapel on February 21, 2026, and at the Class of 1976 50th Reunion Memorial Service on May 22, 2026.

The Princeton Class of 1976 will always hold, in honor and affection, the name of Edward Albert Purnell.