In the News - Full Article
October 28, 2009
The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
CORPORATION'S $3 MILLION GIFT TO FUND PROFESSORSHIP AT NORTHWESTERN LAW
By John Flynn Rooney
A $3 million gift from General Dynamics Corp. has enabled Northwestern University to create a special professorship that will support both the university's law and management schools. The giant defense contractor's donation will fund the Nicholas J. Chabraja Professorship.
Chabraja, the corporation's recently retired chief executive officer, received both his undergraduate and law degrees from Northwestern in the 1960s. Before joining General Dynamics in 1993, Chabraja worked as an associate and partner at Jenner & Block LLP. Chabraja continues on as chairman of General Dynamics' board of directors. He served as the corporation's top executive for 12 years.
Bernard S. Black, currently a professor at the University of Texas School of Law and a finance professor at the university's McCombs School of Business will hold be the first to hold the Chabraja professorship starting in September 2010.
David E. Van Zandt, the dean of Northwestern University's School of Law said the donation allows for the hiring of a professor "who bridges" both the law school and the Kellogg School of Management. "I think [the donation is] a recognition by Chabraja as well as General Dynamics that law and business are completely intertwined," Van Zandt said in a telephone interview. "It's hard to be a lawyer without knowing a lot about business," Van Zandt added. "It's hard to be a businessman without knowing a lot about the law." The gift will also provide support for Northwestern's juris doctor-master in business administration program, which is a three-year program. Black said Wednesday he hopes to divide his time between Northwestern's law and management schools.
Black is an expert in corporate law, finance and health regulation. Black said that Northwestern University has become unique in the emphasis it places on empirical work. He described empirical work "as trying to go beyond anecdotes and individual case studies and conducting statistical analyses of what difference legal rules really make." Black added in a Wednesday telephone interview, "I think Northwestern is doing a truly wonderful job that is interested in the empirical study of law." Black said he already spends a significant amount of time in the Chicago area and has offices both at Northwestern's law school and the Kellogg School.
His wife, Katherine Litvak, joined Northwestern law school's faculty in September. She is currently on leave pursuing a doctorate in finance at the Kellogg School of Management. Black and Litvak live in Evanston, except when Black is not teaching Monday through Wednesday in Texas.
Black has served on the University of Texas Law School faculty since 2004. Prior to that, he served on the faculty at Stanford Law School and Columbia Law School. After graduating from Stanford Law School, Black worked as law clerk for Patricia M. Wald, a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He also worked for four years during the 1980s at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in New York.
The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
CORPORATION'S $3 MILLION GIFT TO FUND PROFESSORSHIP AT NORTHWESTERN LAW
By John Flynn Rooney
A $3 million gift from General Dynamics Corp. has enabled Northwestern University to create a special professorship that will support both the university's law and management schools. The giant defense contractor's donation will fund the Nicholas J. Chabraja Professorship.
Chabraja, the corporation's recently retired chief executive officer, received both his undergraduate and law degrees from Northwestern in the 1960s. Before joining General Dynamics in 1993, Chabraja worked as an associate and partner at Jenner & Block LLP. Chabraja continues on as chairman of General Dynamics' board of directors. He served as the corporation's top executive for 12 years.
Bernard S. Black, currently a professor at the University of Texas School of Law and a finance professor at the university's McCombs School of Business will hold be the first to hold the Chabraja professorship starting in September 2010.
David E. Van Zandt, the dean of Northwestern University's School of Law said the donation allows for the hiring of a professor "who bridges" both the law school and the Kellogg School of Management. "I think [the donation is] a recognition by Chabraja as well as General Dynamics that law and business are completely intertwined," Van Zandt said in a telephone interview. "It's hard to be a lawyer without knowing a lot about business," Van Zandt added. "It's hard to be a businessman without knowing a lot about the law." The gift will also provide support for Northwestern's juris doctor-master in business administration program, which is a three-year program. Black said Wednesday he hopes to divide his time between Northwestern's law and management schools.
Black is an expert in corporate law, finance and health regulation. Black said that Northwestern University has become unique in the emphasis it places on empirical work. He described empirical work "as trying to go beyond anecdotes and individual case studies and conducting statistical analyses of what difference legal rules really make." Black added in a Wednesday telephone interview, "I think Northwestern is doing a truly wonderful job that is interested in the empirical study of law." Black said he already spends a significant amount of time in the Chicago area and has offices both at Northwestern's law school and the Kellogg School.
His wife, Katherine Litvak, joined Northwestern law school's faculty in September. She is currently on leave pursuing a doctorate in finance at the Kellogg School of Management. Black and Litvak live in Evanston, except when Black is not teaching Monday through Wednesday in Texas.
Black has served on the University of Texas Law School faculty since 2004. Prior to that, he served on the faculty at Stanford Law School and Columbia Law School. After graduating from Stanford Law School, Black worked as law clerk for Patricia M. Wald, a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He also worked for four years during the 1980s at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in New York.
