Harry Hillel Wellington
Encyclopedia
Harry Hillel Wellington was the Dean
of Yale Law School
from 1975 to 1985 and the dean of New York Law School
from 1992 to 2000.
in 1947, and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School
in 1952. He taught at Stanford Law School
for a year. He clerked for the Circuit Court
Judge Calvert Magruder
. He also clerked for Associate Justice
Felix Frankfurter
from 1955 to 1956.
He was a member of American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He served as Senior Fellow of Brookings Institution
, and on Board of Governors of Yale University Press. He was a scholar at Rockefeller Foundation
in Bellagio, Italy. He was a recipient of Ford and Guggenheim Fellowship
s. He was on the Board of Directors of the New York Legal Assistance Group
.
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, Drew Days, Paul Gewirtz
, George Priest, Stephen L. Carter
, Lucinda Finley
, and Oliver Williamson.
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.
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
of Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
from 1975 to 1985 and the dean of New York Law School
New York Law School
New York Law School is a private law school in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. New York Law School is one of the oldest independent law schools in the United States. The school is located within four blocks of all major courts in Manhattan. In 2011, New York Law School...
from 1992 to 2000.
Biography
Wellington was born in 1926. He received a B.A. from the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in 1947, and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
in 1952. He taught at Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School
Stanford Law School is a graduate school at Stanford University located in the area known as the Silicon Valley, near Palo Alto, California in the United States. The Law School was established in 1893 when former President Benjamin Harrison joined the faculty as the first professor of law...
for a year. He clerked for the Circuit Court
Circuit court
Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions.-History:King Henry II instituted the custom of having judges ride around the countryside each year to hear appeals, rather than forcing everyone to bring their appeals to London...
Judge Calvert Magruder
Calvert Magruder
Calvert Magruder was a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.After attending Harvard Law School, Magruder served for one year as a law clerk to Justice Louis Brandeis of the Supreme Court of the United States. He became a law professor at Harvard Law School in 1920 and...
. He also clerked for Associate Justice
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are the members of the Supreme Court of the United States other than the Chief Justice of the United States...
Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter
Felix Frankfurter was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.-Early life:Frankfurter was born into a Jewish family on November 15, 1882, in Vienna, Austria, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Europe. He was the third of six children of Leopold and Emma Frankfurter...
from 1955 to 1956.
He was a member of American Academy of Arts & Sciences. He served as Senior Fellow of Brookings Institution
Brookings Institution
The Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
, and on Board of Governors of Yale University Press. He was a scholar at Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
in Bellagio, Italy. He was a recipient of Ford and Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
s. He was on the Board of Directors of the New York Legal Assistance Group
New York Legal Assistance Group
The New York Legal Assistance Group is a non-profit law office that provides free civil legal services to low-income New Yorkers. Through direct representation, impact and class action litigation, consultation and community education, NYLAG serves individuals and families residing in the five...
.
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
Anthony Townsend Kronman is a Sterling Professor at Yale Law School specialized in contracts, bankruptcy, jurisprudence, social theory, and professional responsibility. He was the Dean of Yale Law School from 1994 to 2004.-Biography:...
,Anthony T. Kronman
Anthony T. Kronman
Anthony Townsend Kronman is a Sterling Professor at Yale Law School specialized in contracts, bankruptcy, jurisprudence, social theory, and professional responsibility. He was the Dean of Yale Law School from 1994 to 2004.-Biography:...
became Dean in 1994. Barbara Black, Drew Days, Paul Gewirtz
Paul Gewirtz
Paul D. Gewirtz is the Potter Stewart Professor of Constitutional Law at Yale Law School and the Director of the China Law Center at Yale.-Biography:...
, George Priest, Stephen L. Carter
Stephen L. Carter
Stephen L. Carter is an American law professor, legal- and social-policy writer, columnist, and best-selling novelist.-Education:...
, Lucinda Finley
Lucinda Finley
Lucinda Finley is Frank G. Raichle Professor of Trial and Appellate Advocacy at University at Buffalo. She has a 1980 J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, and a 1977 B.A. from Barnard College...
, and Oliver Williamson.
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 BickelAlexander BickelAlexander Mordecai Bickel was a law professor and expert on the United States Constitution. One of the most influential constitutional commentators of the twentieth century, his writings emphasize judicial restraint....
, 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