- Dorothea S. Clarke Professor of Feminist Jurisprudence
- Jack G. Clarke Professor of Far East Legal Studies
- Jack G. Clarke Professor of International and Comparative Law
- Richard and Lois Cole Professorship of Law
- Edward Cornell Law Librarian
- Edward Cornell Professor of Law
- William Nelson Cromwell Professor of International and Comparative Law
- Distinguished Professor of Corporate & Business Law
- James and Mark Flanagan Professorship of Law
- Jane M.G. Foster Professor of Law
- Marc and Beth Goldberg Professor of Law
- Frank B. Ingersoll Professor of Law
- Henry Allen Mark Professor of Law
- William G. McRoberts Professor in the Empirical Study of Law
Jack G. Clarke and Dorothea S. Clarke
As a significant part of their extraordinary generosity to Cornell Law School, Jack G. and Dorothea S. Clarke have endowed three professorships. Each named chair is distinct in nature and purpose, and addresses a subject area of legal academic inquiry that is of particular interest to its donor.
Jack G. Clarke LL.B. ’52 was an attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell, in New York City, and later within the oil industry: first, in the law department of Creole Petroleum Corporation (a Venezuelan subsidiary of what was at that time Standard Oil of New Jersey), and subsequently at Exxon Corporation, in New York. Mr. Clarke’s career at Exxon, which spanned more than three decades, afforded him extensive experience of the nations of Persian Gulf and the non-western cultures of the Arabian Peninsula and The Levant. His work as a negotiator for Exxon with representatives of oil-producing states like Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya, and the United Arab Emirates showed Mr. Clarke that it was enjoyable and instructive to learn about foreign peoples and cultures, as well as essential to pursuing global interests and practicing international law. Jack G. Clarke earned an LL.M. in international law from Harvard Law School, and was named a Cornell Law School Distinguished Alumnus in 1991 and a Foremost Benefactor of Cornell in 1999. He is a Life Member of the Cornell Law School Advisory Council; chaired the Rudolf B. Schlesinger Fellowship fund; co-chaired the 1986-1989 capital campaign for the expansion and renovation of Myron Taylor Hall; and continues to serve as a Cornell Presidential Councillor.
Dorothea S. Clarke Professor of Feminist Jurisprudence
The Dorothea S. Clarke Professor of Feminist Jurisprudence was created in Cornell Law School in 1997 by Jack G. and Dorothea S. Clarke, and as such was the first named chair in feminist jurisprudence in American legal education. The Dorothea S. Clarke Professorship is intended for “a law professor who has achieved distinction in a field related to women and the law, such as civil rights, family law, and feminist jurisprudence.”
Martha L. A. Fineman was the first Dorothea S. Clarke Professor. The current holder of this professorship is Cynthia Grant Bowman.
Jack G. Clarke Professor of Far East Legal Studies
The Jack G. Clarke Professor of Far East Legal Studies was created in Cornell Law School in 2000. This Professorship is intended for “a scholar whose primary experience and interest is in Far East law and culture.”
Annalise Riles was the first Jack G. Clarke Professor of Far East Legal Studies.
Jack G. Clarke Professor of International and Comparative Law
Jack G. and Dorothea S. Clarke created the Jack G. Clarke Professor of International and Comparative Law in 1997. It is intended broadly for an expert in that area of academic legal studies.
The Jack G. Clarke Professor of International and Comparative Law is Mitchel Lasser.
Richard and Lois Cole Professorship of Law
Richard and Lois Cole established this professorial chair in 2020. The Cole Professor is a distinguished member of the Law School’s faculty, or a prominent teacher-scholar to be recruited externally, with a preference for expertise and distinction in the field of Anglo-American legal history. This preference may be suspended if, in the opinion of the Dean, the needs of the Law School would be better served by awarding the chair to a member of the Cornell Law School faculty in a different field.
The inaugural Cole Professor is Aziz Rana.
Edward Cornell Law Librarian
George D. Cornell and Harriet Cornell funded the endowment for the Edward Cornell Law Librarian over a period of three years, beginning in 1988. The Chair honors George Cornell’s father, Edward Cornell, a member of the first Law School class in 1887, who served as law librarian during 1890-1891. The Agreement Letter reads, in part, “The income of this fund shall be used in support of compensation of the incumbent librarian and auxiliary costs and expenses that support the work of the librarian and the Cornell Law Library.”
The first Edward Cornell Law Librarian was Jane L. Hammond. Professor Hammond was succeeded in this position by Claire M. Germain. Femi Cadmus held the Librarianship until 2019. The current Edward Cornell Law Librarian is Kim Nayyer.
Edward Cornell Professor of Law
Endowed “chiefly through gifts of Mr. and Mrs. John Stainton and Mrs. Pompeo H. Maresi, members of the family of Edward Cornell,” the Edward Cornell Professor of Law was established May 12, 1970: “In recognition of the distinguished career of Edward Cornell, LL.B. 1889, LL.M. 1890, in the field of corporation and business law, there is established an endowed chair in the School of Law of Cornell University, to be known as the Edward Cornell Professorship; and the professor who holds this chair is to be selected with preference for one who has attained distinction in that field of law.” Edward Cornell was a senior partner in the firm of Davies, Auerbach, Cornell & Hardy, in New York City.
The first holder of the Edward Cornell Chair was Harry G. Henn LL.B. ’43. Robert Hockett is the current Edward Cornell Professor of Law.
William Nelson Cromwell Professor of International and Comparative Law
The endowment for the Cromwell Professorship came to the Law School in 1949 as a legacy from William Nelson Cromwell, who stipulated in his Will that the original gift of $270,400 “be used for and applied to the School of Law and/or legal research.” On January 26, 1950, the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees voted to establish the William Nelson Cromwell Professorship of International Law; and on September 15, 1970, voted to reclassify the fund as “a permanently restricted endowment fund with income only to be used for support of the Professorship.” William Nelson Cromwell was a founding partner of Sullivan and Cromwell.
Holders of the Cromwell Chair have included Arthur E. Sutherland, Jr., Gus H. Robinson, Rudolf B. Schlesinger, and John J. Barceló III. Muna Ndulo is the current William Nelson Cromwell Professor of International and Comparative Law.
Distinguished Professor of Corporate & Business Law
The first endowed professorial chair associated with the Jack G. Clarke Institute for the Study and Practice of Business Law, the Distinguished Professor of Corporate and Business Law was established in 2012 by Cornell University Foremost Benefactor, Trustee Emerita, and Presidential Councilor Franci J. Blassberg A.B. 1975, J.D. 1977, as a position befitting an established teacher and scholar whose research, publications, and teaching in the areas of corporate and business law are recognized as innovative, notable, and excellent.
The inaugural holder of the Distinguished Professorship in Corporate and Buisness Law was Lynn Stout.
James and Mark Flanagan Professorship of Law
The fund for the Flanagan Professorship was established in 1973 through a gift from the estate of Thomas Mark Flanagan, in combination with a gift from the estate of his brother, James G. Flanagan, who had predeceased him. Their mutual intention was for Cornell University to pool their respective gifts "for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a fund for a Professorship in the Cornell Law School to be known as the James and Mark Flanagan Professorship."
The first James and Mark Flanagan Professor of Law was Kevin Clermont. The Board of Trustees elected Sheri Lynn Johnson as the second James and Mark Flanagan Professor of Law in October 2011.
Jane M. G. Foster Professor of Law
Jane M. G. Foster LL.B. 1918 established the endowment fund for this Chair in 1990 and built the endowment quickly with a series of gifts during 1991-1993. The Agreement Letter reads, in part, “The Jane M. G. Foster Professorship of Law … may be awarded to any tenured professor in the Law School without any limitation on his or her subject matter specialty. In each case, before nominating a person to hold this chair, the then-Dean of the Law School shall review the facts of Miss Foster’s life and will consider those facts in deciding whom to nominate to hold the chair.”
Jane M. G. Foster graduated Order of the Coif from Cornell Law School, near the top of her class (in which she was one of just two women), and served as an editor of Cornell Law Quarterly. Despite her degree and demonstrated abilities, she faced limited career opportunities. Initially, she worked as a legal assistant at the New York City firm of Davies, Auerbach, and Cornell, where she developed expertise in corporate restructuring — and watched as men of less experience were elected to partnership. Leaving Davies, Auerbach in 1929, Miss Foster applied her intelligence, diligence, and integrity to her personal investments, including an equity holding in the company that would become IBM.
Emeritus Professor and former Cornell Law School Dean Peter W. Martin was the first holder of the Jane M. G. Foster Chair. The current Jane M. G. Foster Professor of Law is Nelson Tebbe.
Marc and Beth Goldberg Professor of Law
The Marc and Beth Goldberg Professorship is held by “a tenured faculty member who is nominated by the Dean of the Law School in consultation with its chaired faculty and approved by the Board of Trustees.” It was established in 2019 by Marc S. Goldberg, LL.B. `67 and his wife Beth Goldberg. Marc Goldberg was senior vice-president of Philip Morris Companies and senior advisor with Wasserstein & Company, LLP. Beth Goldberg earned B.S. and M.A. degrees in Nursing and taught at City University of New York and Pace University. Marc and Beth Goldberg are Foremost Benefactors of Cornell University. The inaugural Goldberg Professor of Law is Saule Omarova.
Frank B. Ingersoll Professor of Law
The Board of Trustees voted to establish the Ingersoll Professorship on October 18, 1973, based on the terms of the Will of Frank B. Ingersoll LL.B. 1917, which stipulated that, upon the death of his last survivor, “the remaining principal of the trust property and any accrued or undistributed income shall be distributed to Cornell University, to be used for the benefit of its Law School.” Frank Ingersoll was a charter member of the Cornell Law School Advisory Committee (est. 1959); a president of the Cornell Law Association; a member of the Cornell University Council; and a member of the Cornell Clubs of Western Pennsylvania and New York, respectively. While a student at the Law School, he was editor-in-chief of Cornell Law Review. As an attorney, Mr. Ingersoll was a partner in the Pittsburgh, PA, firm of Buchanan, Ingersoll, Rodewald, Kyle & Buerger. He was born in Pittsburgh, served in the U.S. Army during W.W.I., and during his professional career was director of the Union National Bank of Pittsburgh; the Armstrong Cork Company; the National Mine Services Company; and other firms.
The first holder of the Ingersoll Professorship was Robert S. Pasley. Subsequent Ingersoll Professors have included Ian R. MacNeil and James A. Henderson, Jr. The current Frank B. Ingersoll Professor of Law is Emily Sherwin.
Henry Allen Mark Professor of Law
Henry Allen Mark J.D. ’35 initiated the endowment fund for this professorship in 1978 through a bequest agreement, and the professorship became active in 1996. Henry Allen Mark was a senior and managing partner of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, in New York City. He served as mayor of Garden City, New York; as a member of the Cornell Law School Advisory Council for 29 years; as president of the Cornell Law Association; and as a member of the Major Gifts Committee of the Annual Fund. Mr. Mark received the Distinguished Alumnus Award for 1982-1983 and was recognized as a Foremost Benefactor of Cornell Law School. He established the Henry A. Mark Memorial Scholarship in 1959, in memory of his father, to provide full tuition to a student of “outstanding character, personality, and intellectual achievement.”
As elected by Cornell’s Board of Trustees in January 2015, the holder of the Henry Allen Mark Professorship is Jeffrey J. Rachlinski.
William G. McRoberts Professor in the empirical study of Law
William G. McRoberts established this professorship in 1953 by a bequest “for the endowment and support of a full professorship devoted to the continuous and scientific study of the Administration of the Law (in relation to Community Government and by the Courts). … The purpose of such scientific study shall be to determine the quality of the administration of the law by the courts and public officials throughout the various states and communities and to determine the honesty or dishonesty of such administration. The whole subject matter to be dealt with and reported upon from the viewpoint, and with the idea of informing the public where the highest standards are set and the best results obtained and the reasons why and the causes or influences contributing to the results.”
Holders of the McRoberts Chair have included Bertram Wilcox, Ernest Warren, and Robert S. Summers. In October 2011, Cynthia R. Farina became the first woman to be appointed to the McRoberts Professorship. In 2019, the McRoberts Professorship was re-christened the William G. McRoberts Professor in the Empirical Study of Law in order to more accurately reflect the original intentions of the donor to support the scientific study of the law and of legal institutions, and in recognition of Cornell Law School’s unique strength in the field. Professor Michael Heise is the current incumbent and the first faculty member to hold the chair under this new name.