Duke Law has created a new endowed chair in constitutional law and government through a gift from Duke Law Board of Visitors Chair David Ichel and his wife, Jan.
The Ichels’ $1.25 million gift will be matched by the Charlotte-based Duke Endowment.
“Our interest in this particular gift was sparked by [Law School] Dean [David] Levi, who made the point that if Duke alumni and friends can fund a number of new professorships, we can help bring the Duke Law School to an even greater level of excellence,” Ichel said in a Duke news release. “We decided on constitutional law and government because they are the foundations of our law and organized society, and I really enjoyed studying those subjects as a student.”
The new professor will teach courses in Trinity College of Arts and Sciences as well as in the Law School, which David Ichel said was appealing to him as an alumnus of both schools.
Levi said the gift will add depth to the school’s faculty and programs and bring the Law School closer to its strategic goal of adding 10 new faculty positions in coming years.
The gift also builds on the Strategic Faculty Initiative that was announced Jan. 9 in which the Charlotte-based Duke Endowment pledged more than $40 million to help create more than 30 faculty positions.
The Duke Endowment is a charitable foundation established by James B. Duke.
“In his indenture, James B. Duke specifically directed support for the school, and that legacy continues today,” Russell Robinson, chair of the Endowment’s board, said in a statement Monday. With the Ichels, we’re excited about creating new opportunities for students and legal scholars.”
The Ichels previously funded a scholarship and a seminar room, and helped fund the Simpson Thacher & Bartlett professorship.
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