John R. Kramer
Encyclopedia
John R. Kramer served as the 19th dean of the Tulane University Law School
from 1986 to 1996, and previous to that was an associate dean at Georgetown University
. At Tulane he started a law clinic to serve low-income people in New Orleans and made Tulane the first law school in the United States to require a specific number of community service hours for graduation. Under his leadership, African American students came to constitute a greater percentage of the law school student body than in any other non-historically black law school.
A cheerful and outspoken liberal, he relished controversy. He publicly defended the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic
when it ran afoul of powerful chemical and oil companies in Louisiana. He also defended the Tulane Appellate Advocacy Program's involvement in a Supreme Court suit against a local utility. During his tenure, Tulane published the nation's first gay law journal. He was succeeded by Tulane Law School Dean Edward F. Sherman
.
, who later became the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1965, he became counsel to U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (D-N.Y.) on the House Committee on Education and Labor, handling anti-poverty legislation and the first Higher Education Act.
Tulane University Law School
Tulane University Law School is the law school of Tulane University. It is located on Tulane's Uptown campus in New Orleans, Louisiana. Established in 1847, it is the 12th oldest law school in the United States....
from 1986 to 1996, and previous to that was an associate dean at Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
. At Tulane he started a law clinic to serve low-income people in New Orleans and made Tulane the first law school in the United States to require a specific number of community service hours for graduation. Under his leadership, African American students came to constitute a greater percentage of the law school student body than in any other non-historically black law school.
A cheerful and outspoken liberal, he relished controversy. He publicly defended the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic
Tulane Environmental Law Clinic
The Tulane Environmental Law Clinic is a legal clinic that Tulane Law School has operated since 1989 to offer law students the practical experience of representing real clients in actual legal proceedings under state and federal environmental laws....
when it ran afoul of powerful chemical and oil companies in Louisiana. He also defended the Tulane Appellate Advocacy Program's involvement in a Supreme Court suit against a local utility. During his tenure, Tulane published the nation's first gay law journal. He was succeeded by Tulane Law School Dean Edward F. Sherman
Edward F. Sherman
Edward F. Sherman served as the 20th dean and is currently the W.R. Irby Chair in Law at the Tulane University Law School. He teaches Civil Procedure and Alternative Dispute Resolution. He was previously the Professor of Law at Tulane...
.
Education and early life
Mr. Kramer graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1958. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Cambridge University in 1958-59 and received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1962. He clerked at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund for Thurgood MarshallThurgood Marshall
Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...
, who later became the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1965, he became counsel to U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (D-N.Y.) on the House Committee on Education and Labor, handling anti-poverty legislation and the first Higher Education Act.