Richard Danner

Richard Danner has been named the Archibald C. and Frances Fulk Rufty Law Library and Information Technology Research Professor in the Law School. The position is supported by a $1.4 million gift from Frances F. Rufty ’45, a longtime supporter of the Law School and Law Library.

Danner, senior associate dean for information services at the Law School, is widely considered one of the most prominent scholars of information technology in the field of law. He has degrees in both law and library science.

“I feel honored and humbled to be awarded a distinguished professorship, and I was very pleased that so many of my colleagues were in attendance at the dinner where the chair was announced,” Danner said. “I am particularly happy that the professorship carries the names of Archie and Frances Rufty. Frances worked in the law library as a student and early in her career and is a generous longtime friend and supporter of the library. I consider her and all the members of her family to be personal friends as well.”

Danner is known internationally for his scholarship on legal education, legislation, legal research and bibliography, and the science of law libraries. His work on issues of electronic publication are path-breaking, and his book, Strategic Planning: A Law Library Management Tool for the ’90s and Beyond, is widely considered an essential resource for all law librarians. His leadership, imagination and intellect have helped establish Duke Law School as a national leader in the use of technology to disseminate legal scholarship and to facilitate teaching and learning in the classroom.

In addition to his work as a scholar and teacher, Danner has held a variety of leadership positions in all of the key professional organizations in his field. Among the most important of these, he has served as president of the American Association of Law Libraries, editor of that organization’s Law Library Journal,a director of the International Association of Law Libraries, and member of the Executive Committee of the Association of American Law Schools.

Few research professors have reached the level of distinction and leadership that Professor Danner has achieved in these fields which are of increasing importance to both law schools and research universities.

“This is a well earned honor for Dick, who is one of the most respected legal academic librarians in the country,” said Dean Katharine T. Bartlett. “There is no better qualified person for this professorship.”

Danner joins the following distinguished group of faculty members who hold chaired professorships at the Law School:

Katharine T. Bartlett, A. Kenneth Pye Professor of Law
Sara Sun Beale, Charles L.B. Lowndes Professor of Law
James D.A. Boyle, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law
Paul D. Carrington, Harry R. Chadwick Sr. Emeritus Professor of Law
George C. Christie, James B. Duke Professor of Law
James D. Cox, Brainerd Currie Professor of Law
Walter E. Dellinger III, Douglas Blount Maggs Professor of Law
Deborah A. DeMott, David F. Cavers Professor of Law
Clark C. Havighurst, William Neal Reynolds Emeritus Professor of Law
Donald L. Horowitz, James B. Duke Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science
Robert P. Mosteller, Harry R. Chadwick Sr. Professor of Law
Jerome H. Reichman, Bunyon S. Womble Professor of Law
William A. Reppy, Jr., Charles L.B. Lowndes Emeritus Professor of Law
Thomas D. Rowe, Jr., Elvin R. Latty Professor of Law
Christopher H. Schroeder, Charles S. Murphy Professor of Law and Professor of Public Policy Studies
William W. Van Alstyne, William R. Perkins and Thomas C. Perkins Professor of Law
Neil Vidmar, Russell M. Robinson, II Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology: Social and Health Sciences