A grant from The Duke Endowment has established a named chair for the dean’s position at Duke University Law School. The first James B. Duke and Benjamin N. Duke Dean of the School of Law will be David F. Levi, who has served as Duke Law’s dean and a professor of law since 2007.
“It will be an honor for me and for future deans of Duke Law School to carry the name of the two brothers who founded the university and set such a powerful and thoughtful example of giving back,” said Dean Levi. “For me, the opportunity to work with The Duke Endowment, its staff and its trustees has been one of the great joys of my time as dean.”
As Duke Law’s 14th dean, Dean Levi has significantly expanded faculty, research and academic programs. He navigated Duke Law through the sharp downturn in the legal economy and its effects on legal education following the global financial crisis of 2008 and has built on its reputation as one of the world’s top law schools. The school recently completed the most successful fundraising campaign in its history, raising $132.4 million as part of Duke Forward, the university’s largest fundraising effort to date.
Elected to ALI in 1991, Dean Levi became ALI President in May of 2017. The President is a volunteer officer of the Institute who chairs the Executive Committee of the ALI Council and sets the direction for the Institute.
Read the full Duke Law announcement.