History of Cornell Law School
![]() | 1866 | Laying plans for the new university, Cornell University president-to-be A.D. White proposes establishing a department of law |
| 1887 |
| |
| 1888 | First graduating law class (nine students) | |
| 1890 | George Washington Fields graduates; one of the nation's first law-school-graduates of color | |
| 1891 | Charles Evans Hughes joins faculty | |
| 1892 | Construction of Boardman Hall completed, will later house Law School | |
| 1893 |
| |
| 1915 | Cornell Law Quarterly established (Professor George G. Bogert is first faculty editor) | |
| 1916 | Cornell Law Quarterly now edited by student board | |
| 1924 | Trustees approve College of Law as a graduate school | |
| 1925 | Renamed Cornell Law School | |
| 1929 |
| |
| 1932 | Myron Taylor Hall dedicated October 15 |
| 1948 | Program of specialization in international affairs established; LL.B. degrees established | |
| 1954 | Combined four-year programs leading to LL.B. and M.P.A. or M.B.A. degrees established | |
| 1958 | $1,000,000 gift from Myron Taylor for new residence center, to be named for his professor/mentor, Charles Evans Hughes | |
| 1960 | Cornell Legal Aid Clinic opens | |
| 1966 | Cornell Law School becomes first law school to receive permission to permit court appearances by third-year students working at its Legal Aid Clinic | |
| 1967 | Cornell Law Quarterly becomes Cornell Law Review | |
| 1968 | First issue of Cornell International Law Journal | |
| 1978 | Law Library designated U.S. Government Depository | |
| 1988 | Opening ceremonies for new Jane Foster addition and remodelled Myron Taylor Hall | |
![]() | 1992 |
|
| 1993 | Cornell Death Penalty Project created | |
| 1994 | Cornell Law School and University of Paris I law faculty launch Summer Institute of International and Comparative Law | |
| 2002 | Clarke Program in East Asian Law and Culture established | |
| 2004 | First edition of the Journal of Emperical Legal Studies | |
| 2005 | First edition of electronic newsletter, the e-Forum sent to alumni, friends of the Law School | |
| 2006 |
| |
| 2007 | Seventy-fifth anniversary of Myron Taylor Hall; coincides with 120th anniversary of Cornell Law School |
The Deans of Cornell Law School
| Douglas Boardman | 1887-1891 |
| Francis Miles Finch | 1891-1903 |
| Ernest Wilson Huffcut | 1903-1907 |
| Frank Irvine | 1907-1916 |
| Edwin Hamlin Woodruff | 1916-1921 |
| George Gleason Bogert | 1921-1926 |
| Charles Kellog Burdick | 1926-1937 |
| Robert Sproule Stevens | 1937-1954 |
| Gray Thoron | 1956-1963 |
| William Ray Forrester | 1963-1973 |
| Roger Conant Cramton | 1973-1980 |
| Peter William Martin | 1980-1988 |
| Russell King Osgood | 1988-1998 |
| Charles W. Wolfram | 1998-1999 (Interim Dean) |
| Lee E. Teitelbaum | 1999-2003 |
| John A. Siliciano | 2003 (Interim Dean) |
| Stewart J. Schwab | 2004-present |