Endowing a Chair in Honor of Law Dean Michael A. Fitts	Print Issue
February 5, 2013, Volume 59, No. 20

In the 12 years that he has served as Penn Law Dean, Michael A. Fitts has helped to establish 16 named faculty chairs. Now, the 17th has been named after him.

At the annual Benefactors Dinner in November, the Law School’s Board of Overseers announced a gift of $4.2 million which will endow the Michael A. Fitts Distinguished Professor of Law.

“Mike has worked tirelessly on behalf of Penn Law, recruiting stellar faculty, championing curricular innovation, spearheading a complete renovation of the Law School campus, and recently completing a record-breaking capital campaign,” said Paul Haaga, chair of the Law School’s Board of Overseers. “The Fitts chair is a fitting acknowledgment of those accomplishments and a token of the Overseers’ gratitude for Mike’s extraordinary leadership over the past 12 years.”

Dean Fitts first became dean in 2000 and has been a professor at the Law School since 1985. His second term as dean, which was extended in 2010 (Almanac October 26, 2010), will continue until June 30, 2015.

During his tenure, the Law School has created cross-disciplinary programs that are unrivaled among the leading law schools and has expanded the size and academic breadth of its standing faculty with the appointment of more than 25 renowned scholars and promising young intellectuals.