Lt. Col. Milo E. Rowell (July 25, 1903 – October 7, 1977) was an American lawyer and

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

officer best known for his role in drafting the

Constitution of Japan The Constitution of Japan is the supreme law of Japan. Written primarily by American civilian officials during the occupation of Japan after World War II, it was adopted on 3 November 1946 and came into effect on 3 May 1947, succeeding the Meij ...

. Born in

Fresno, California Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, Rowell graduated from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, and returned to Fresno in 1926 to open a private law practice there. He enlisted in the Army in 1943, where he studied occupation administration and also commanded troops in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. Following Japan's surrender in 1945, Rowell moved to

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and joined the occupation authority under

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army (United States), General of the Army. He served with dis ...

as Chief of Judicial Affairs. In this capacity, he worked with Brig. Gen.

Courtney Whitney Major General Courtney Whitney (May 20, 1897 – March 21, 1969) was a lawyer and United States Army commander during World War II who later served as a senior official during the American occupation of Japan (1945–1951). He played a major r ...

to prepare a draft constitution for the

Diet of Japan , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

to approve. Rowell extensively analyzed the existing

Meiji Constitution The Constitution of the Empire of Japan ( Kyūjitai: ; Shinjitai: , ), known informally as the Meiji Constitution (, ''Meiji Kenpō''), was the constitution of the Empire of Japan which was proclaimed on February 11, 1889, and remained in ...

, balancing it with the demands of Japanese lawyers to form a draft that was acceptable to both the Japanese government and the GHQ. Rowell donated his papers to the

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

in 1965. They now serve as one of the key

legislative history Legislative history includes any of various materials generated in the course of creating legislation, such as committee reports, analysis by legislative counsel, committee hearings, floor debates, and histories of actions taken. Legislative his ...

sources in Japanese constitutional law. Later in life, Rowell supported establishment of a medical school in his home town of Fresno. This led to the establishment of the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine's Fresno-Central San Joaquin Valley Medical Education Program. In 1981 the auditorium of the new Medical Education Building on the campus of Fresno's VA Medical Center was named in Rowell's honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowell, Milo 1903 births 1977 deaths Stanford University alumni Harvard Law School alumni United States Army officers Lawyers who have represented the United States government California lawyers Lawyers from Fresno, California 20th-century American lawyers Military personnel from California Constitutions of Japan