Law School loses prof to Harvard

For the second time in the past two years, a distinguished Law School professor is leaving the University for a position at Harvard Law School. Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren accepted an appointment to become the Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law at Harvard last week. Warren follows in the footsteps of former University Law School Professor Leon Higginbotham, who left the University in March to accept a professorship at Harvard. Higginbotham's wife, Evelyn, an associate history professor, also left for Harvard. "There are a lot of people that find it hard to resist the lure of Harvard," said Law School Dean Colin Diver, who received his law degree from Harvard. Many Law School students said that while they will miss Warren's presence at the University, they certainly understand her decision. "Harvard is Harvard and on that base level, I can understand someone wanting to leave," second year Law student Ami Hordes said. Harvard originally offered Warren the professorship two years ago. Finally accepting the position last week, Warren is slated to teach a course on credit this fall, according to an article in The Harvard Crimson. "I will have wonderful research opportunities at Harvard," Warren said. Warren was a professor at the University for eight years and was awarded a Lindback teaching award last spring. She was a popular teacher known for making boring subjects seem interesting. "I was really looking forward to taking a class from her next semester," second year Law school student Susan Tien said. According to Diver, the search for a replacement for Warren has already begun. "People come and people go," he said. "The important thing is to be adding people as good as the people we are losing." This year, the Law School added to their faculty Geoffrey Hazard, a former Yale University Law School professor, and Jason Johnston, a former law school professor at Vanderbilt University. "I think that getting Geoffrey Hazard is a bonus because he is the premiere professor in professional responsibility and ethics," Tien said. But Hazard's acceptance of a position at the Law School was probably most influenced by the presence of the American Law Institute, which is based in Philadelphia, Tien added. According to Diver, the Law School is in the process of expanding its faculty from 30 to 40. There are currently 36 professors at the Law School. "We are expanding the faculty and we've been hiring all along at the entry level," Diver said. Students in the Law School are disappointed to see Warren leave but are positive about the addition of new faculty members. "I think it's always a benefit to get quality faculty," Hordes said. "There are plenty of good teachers here but if you can always find more good ones it can only benefit the students." Tien agrees that the University should try to obtain more high caliber law professors. "Penn definitely should go out of its way to recruit top scholars like Hazard," Tien said.