Case Western Reserve University School of Law boasts a top ranked faculty in downloads of their scholarship (Heald and Sichelman study of scholarly impact), citations to their publications (Sisk/Leiter study), and quality of teaching (Princeton Review). There is much to celebrate! The law school’s annual celebration of faculty, was held on May 15, 2023. It began with a chairing ceremony for Raymond Ku and Charles Korsmo.
“A chaired professorship is the highest honor awarded in legal academia,” said Co-Dean Michael Scharf at the ceremony. “It’s a badge of distinction that recognizes faculty for having earned a national reputation for scholarly excellence in their field.” The law school has 14 endowed chairs, “a relatively high number for a faculty of its size,” said Scharf.
“Many people don’t know that a physical chair accompanies the honor,” said Scharf. “And with the approval of the University Board of Trustees, we are happy to bestow these chairs on Ku and Korsmo.”
Ku received the John Homer Kapp Chaired Professorship, which had been occupied by former Dean Peter Gerhart, who recently passed away. Korsmo was the inaugural recipient of the Morris G. Shanker Chaired Professorship of Law. This new chair was named in honor of Case Western Reserve University Professor Emeritus Morris G. Shanker, an award-winning educator and legal scholar who passed away in August 2020.
Co-Dean Jessica Berg then announced the promotions of Ayesha Hardaway to full professor with tenure and Anat-Alon Beck to associate professor.
Berg also recognized the appointment of Atiba Ellis to full professor with tenure with the title of Laura B. Chisholm Research Scholar, followed by the appointment of Eric Chaffee to full professor with tenure as well as the inaugural Peter M. Gerhart Research Scholar and Associate Director of the Business Law Center.
In addition, Victor Flatt was named full professor with tenure and Associate Director of the Burke Environmental Law Center, with an endowed chair to be recognized at a later date. Betsy Rosenblatt was announced as a full professor with tenure and the Oliver C. Schroeder Jr. Research Scholar as well as the Associate Director of Spangenberg Center for Law, Technology and the Arts. Cassandra Robertson was named the inaugural Director of Online Education.
Following these announcements, Berg proclaimed that Jonathan Adler was the recipient of the 2023 Faculty Service Prize, Associate Dean Jessie Hill awarded the Distinguished Research Prize to Sharona Hoffman, and Avidan Cover presented the Judge Richard M. Markus Adjunct Award for Excellence in Teaching to Christian Grostic.
Cover then recognized the student-voted professors of the year, which included Michael Benza (all JDs), Julia Liston (LLMs) and Daniel Jaffe (LLEAP students).
Scharf then took a moment to announce the books that the law faculty published in the past year, which included Climate Liberalism: Perspectives on Liberty, Property and Pollution by Jonathan Adler, Children’s Rights and Independent Children’s Rights by Brian Gran, Aging with a Plan: How a Little Thought Today Can Vastly Improve Your Tomorrow by Sharona Hoffman, Ohio School Law by Daniel Jaffe, Evidence Law: A Student’s Guide to the Law of Evidence as Applied in American Trials by Dale Nance, Ohio Appellate Practice by Andrew Pollis, Baldwin's Ohio Practice: Civil Practice by Cassandra Robertson, and Food and Drug Administration by Katharine Van Tassel. As is the tradition of the law school, the covers of newly published books are printed on large canvases and hung in the dean’s conference room as recognition for the time and dedication taken to complete them.
Congratulations to our extraordinary faculty for these accolades!