Harry Hillel Wellington (August 13, 1926 – August 8, 2011) was an American legal scholar who served as the Dean of Yale Law School from 1975 to 1985 and the dean of

New York Law School New York Law School (NYLS) is a private law school in Tribeca, New York City. NYLS has a full-time day program and a part-time evening program. NYLS's faculty includes 54 full-time and 59 adjunct professors. Notable faculty members include ...

from 1992 to 2000.

Biography

Wellington was born in 1926. He received a B.A. from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

in 1947, and an LL.B. from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each c ...

in 1952. He taught at

Stanford Law School Stanford Law School (Stanford Law or SLS) is the law school of Stanford University, a private research university near Palo Alto, California. Established in 1893, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world. Stanford La ...

for a year. He clerked for the Circuit Court Judge

Calvert Magruder Calvert Magruder (December 26, 1893 – May 22, 1968) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Education and career Born on December 26, 1893, in Annapolis, Maryland, received an Artium Bacca ...

. He also clerked for

Associate Justice Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...

Felix Frankfurter Felix Frankfurter (November 15, 1882 – February 22, 1965) was an Austrian-American jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1939 until 1962, during which period he was a noted advocate of judic ...

from 1955 to 1956. He was a member of

American Academy of Arts & Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

. He served as Senior Fellow of

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in e ...

, and on Board of Governors of Yale University Press. He was a scholar at

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropy, philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, aft ...

Bellagio, Italy Bellagio (; lmo, label=Comasco, Belàs ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Como in the Italian region of Lombardy. It is located on Lake Como, also known by its Latin-derived name ''Lario'', whose arms form an inverted Y. The t ...

. He was a recipient of

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

and

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the art ...

s. He was on the board of directors of the

New York Legal Assistance Group The New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG) is a non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized a ...

. In 1991, Wellington was elected to the

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President ...

National Governing Board.

Yale Law School

Wellington started teaching at Yale Law School in 1956 as an assistant professor. In his early years at Yale, he was a contracts scholar, focusing his scholarship on freedom of contract, organized labor, and collective bargaining. Wellington's best-known scholarly works are on legal process. He was made an associate professor in 1957, a full professor in 1960, and the Edward J. Phelps Professor of Law in 1967. He helped persuade John Simon to teach at Yale Law School in 1962. He became the Dean of Yale Law School in 1975. He helped rebuild the faculty during his deanship, hiring over 30 professors, including Anthony T. Kronman, Anthony T. Kronman became Dean in 1994.

Barbara Black Barbara Aronstein Black (born 1933) is an American legal scholar. Born and raised in Brooklyn, She was the first woman to serve as dean of an Ivy League law school. when she became Dean of Columbia Law School in 1986. Black is the George Wellwoo ...

Drew Days Drew Saunders Days III (August 29, 1941 – November 15, 2020) was an American legal scholar who served as Solicitor General of the United States from 1993 to 1996 under President Bill Clinton. He also served as the first African American Assista ...

Paul Gewirtz Paul D. Gewirtz (born May 12, 1947) is the Potter Stewart Professor of Constitutional Law at Yale Law School and the Director of the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale. Biography Gewirtz received his Bachelor of Arts degree ''summa cum laude'' from ...

George Priest George L. Priest (born November 24, 1947) is an American legal scholar specializing in antitrust law. Priest has taught at the Yale Law School since 1981, where he is the Edward J. Phelps Professor of Law and Economics and Director of the John M ...

Stephen L. Carter Stephen Lisle Carter (born October 26, 1954)"Carter, Stephen L. 1954 ...

Lucinda Finley Lucinda Finley is the Frank G. Raichle Professor of Trial and Appellate Advocacy at the University at Buffalo. Biography She has a 1980 J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, and a 1977 B.A. from Barnard College. Prior to joining the Buffal ...

, and

Oliver Williamson Oliver Eaton Williamson (September 27, 1932 – May 21, 2020) was an American economist, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and recipient of the 2009 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, which he shared with Elinor Ost ...

. He was an excellent fundraiser. Starting with his deanship, Yale Law School became, "the most theoretical and academically oriented law school in America." He became a Sterling Professor in 1983. As Dean, he developed the Yale Law School's loan forgiveness program. In 1985, he was succeeded as Dean by Guido Calabresi. A professorial lecturership was established in his honor in 1995. He was a Sterling Professor of Law Emeritus and the Harry H. Wellington Professorial Lecturer. He was a Lifetime Honorary Member of the Yale Law School Executive Committee. In 2005, Yale Law School honored him by naming the Harry H. Wellington Dean's Discretionary Fund for Faculty Support after him.

New York Law School Dean

In 1992, he retired from the Yale Law School faculty and became the 14th Dean of New York Law School. Under his deanship, the curriculum was revised to put greater emphasis on the practical skills of a professional attorney. Also, the Ernst C. Stiefel Professorship of Comparative Law was created. He was a John Marshall Harlan Visiting Professor at New York Law School. He retired from teaching in 2007.

Selected works

*''Contracts and Contract Remedies'' with Harold Shepherd, 1957 *''Legislative Purpose and the Judicial Process: The'' Lincoln Mills ''Case'', with

Alexander Bickel Alexander Mordecai Bickel (1924–1974) was an American legal scholar and expert on the United States Constitution. One of the most influential constitutional commentators of the twentieth century, his writings emphasize judicial restraint. Life ...

, 1957 *''The role of law in the prevention and settlement of major labor disputes and in the terms of settlement: A preliminary report'', 1965 *''Labour and the Legal Process'', 1968 *''The limits of collective bargaining in public employment'', 1969 *''The Unions and the Cities (Studies of unionism in government)'', with Ralph K. Winter, 1972 *''The nature of judicial review (The Cardozo lecture)'', 1981 *''Labor Law'' with Clyde W. Summers and Alan Hyde, 1983 *''The Least Dangerous Branch: Supreme Court at the Bar of Politics'', with Alexander Bickel, 1986 *''Interpreting the Constitution: The Supreme Court and the Process of Adjudication'', 1990

Notes

References