Chronology of Major Events

  • 2005 - Kent D. Syverud, dean of the Vanderbilt University Law School, has been named dean of the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, effective Jan. 1, 2006, according to Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton. He also will become the Ethan A. H. Shepley University Professor.
  • 1999 - Joel Seligman is appointed dean, effective July 1. Current enrollment is 612 J.D. students.
  • 1998 - Daniel L. Keating is named dean. Keating asks, at time of appointment, not to serve as a long-term dean.
  • 1997 - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia presides over Wiley Rutledge Moot Court competition finals.
  • 1997 - Anheuser-Busch Hall, the law school's current home, is dedicated. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor gives the keynote address.
  • 1987 - Dorsey D. Ellis Jr. is named dean.
  • 1985 - Philip D. Shelton serves as acting dean.
  • 1980 - F. Hodge O'Neal is named dean.
  • 1973 - Edward T. Foote II is named dean.
  • 1972 - The Seeley G. Mudd Law Building is dedicated. The law school moves from January Hall.
  • 1972 - Lewis R. Mills serves as acting dean.
  • 1960 - Hiram Henry Lesar is named dean.
  • 1959 - William Catron Jones serves as acting dean.
  • 1953 - Milton D. Green is named dean.
  • 1951 - John Ritchie III is named dean.
  • 1947 - Enrollment at the School of Law rapidly increases due to the influx of World War II veterans. Enrollment increases from 43 in 1943 to 270 in 1947.
  • 1945 - Wayne LaSalle Townsend serves as dean.
  • 1942 - Warner Fuller is named acting dean and later named dean.
  • 1936 - Joseph A. McClain Jr. is named dean.
  • 1935 - Tyrrell Williams serves again as acting dean.
  • 1930 - Wiley Blount Rutledge Jr. serves as acting dean for one year and then as dean from 1931-35. The school's moot court competition is later named for Rutledge, who served as a U.S. Supreme Court justice.
  • 1927 - William G. Hale is named dean.
  • 1926 - Tyrrell Williams serves as acting dean for one year.
  • 1923 - The law school moves to January Hall from the Ridgely Library building.
  • 1921 - Richard L. Goode serves again as dean.
  • 1919 - Tyrrell Williams is named dean.
  • 1918 - The University Board of Directors officially changes the name of the school to "Washington University School of Law."
  • 1915 - Richard L. Goode becomes dean.
  • 1909 - The School of Law moves into the upper floor of the Ridgley Library building from the old St. Louis Club Building.
  • 1908 - The name of the school changes from "Law Department of Washington University" to "Washington University Law School."
  • 1905 - The old St. Louis Club Building, 29th and Locust in downtown St. Louis, is taken over by the school.
  • 1894 - William S. Curtis is named dean.
  • 1889 - Walter Moran Farmer becomes the first African-American to graduate from the law school.
  • 1881 - William G. Hammond appointed first full-time dean and professor of law.
  • 1878 - The School of Law moves to the Old Mary Institute Building, 1417 Lucas Place, from the University Building.
  • 1878 - Henry Hitchcock again serves as dean of the school.
  • 1871 - The School of Law moves to the University Building, 17th and Washington in downtown St. Louis, from the Polytechnic Institute Building.
  • 1870 - George M. Stewart is named acting dean and later becomes dean of the law school.
  • 1869 - The School of Law admits its first female students, Phoebe Couzins and Lemma Barkeloo. Couzins became the university's and the law school's first female graduate in 1871. Missouri's first woman lawyer, Barkaloo attended the law school for one year, but chose to take the bar exam in 1870 without finishing law school.
  • 1867 - The law school's moot court is established to provide students with training in research and preparation of pleadings and oral arguments.
  • 1867 - Henry Hitchcock is named dean.
  • 1867 - Washington University inaugurates its Law Department, popularly known as the St. Louis Law School. The school is housed in the Polytechnic Institute Building, 7th & Chestnut in downtown St. Louis.