Joseph Baker Knotts Jr. ’60

Joe Knotts died of a heart attack Dec. 18, 2007, in Leesburg, Va. He lived in Purcellville, Va.

Joe was born in Baltimore and prepared for Princeton at The Hill School. A classics major, he ran track and wrestled during our sophomore, junior, and senior years. He was a member of Cannon Club and president of the James Madison Assembly.

After Princeton, Joe completed legal studies at Harvard Law School and practiced with the Atomic Energy Commission in Washington, D.C., and with a trade association in New York before entering private practice. Among his accomplishments was winning a Supreme Court decision 9-0. Joe worked to build several firms before forming his own, Conner & Knotts, in 1973. He advised the Presidential Commission on Catastrophic Nuclear Accidents and wrote for the American Nuclear Society. He was also an avid sportsman who won awards in trapshooting and skeet shooting.

His wife, Wendy Knotts; two children from his first marriage, Joseph and Christopher; two stepchildren; and six grandchildren survive Joe. The class extends its sincere condolences to all his family.