Longtime faculty member Bob Rapp (ADL ’69, LAW ’72) has committed $1.2 million to Case Western Reserve University School of Law to establish the Robert N. Rapp Distinguished Lecturer in Business and Securities Law Fund. The endowed fund will support the ongoing appointment of distinguished scholars and practitioners whose teaching and engagement will strengthen the school’s nationally recognized business and securities law programs.
Rapp’s gift reflects a lifelong commitment to Case Western Reserve and to legal education. A double alumnus of the university, Rapp went on to spend more than four decades in private practice in Cleveland, developing a nationally respected career in business, securities and financial markets law.
“This gift is about teaching, ideas and the future of the profession,” Rapp said. “Case Western Reserve shaped who I am as a lawyer and as an academic. I wanted to create something that would continue to enrich students’ experiences long after my own time in the classroom.”
Throughout his professional career, Rapp maintained a deep and active connection to the law school. He began teaching securities regulation shortly after entering practice and, over time, became a fixture in the school’s business law curriculum. Since transitioning from private practice in 2017, Rapp has served in a full-time teaching role, as a visiting professor and the Louis C. Greenwood Lecturer in Residence, offering courses in securities regulation, business associations and financial markets. He is also the author of Blue Sky Regulation (2d Ed. Matthew Bender), a definitive treatise on state securities laws in the United States.
“Bob Rapp embodies the very best of the School of Law—an extraordinary scholar, a dedicated teacher and a lifelong member of our community,” said Dean Paul Rose. “This generous gift ensures that future generations of students will engage with leading voices in business and securities law and benefit from the kind of rigorous, practice‑informed education that Bob himself has championed for decades.”
In creating the Distinguished Lecturer fund, Rapp is establishing a legacy that directly enhances teaching and learning opportunities at the law school. Rather than supporting a traditional scholarship, the fund is designed to bring leading voices in business and securities law into the classroom, expanding opportunities for students to learn from accomplished academics and practitioners and further elevating the profile of the school’s Business Law Center.
“I never really left this place,” said Rapp. “From my earliest days as a student to my years in practice and now in the classroom, Case Western Reserve has always been home to me.”
