Russell K. Osgood
Professor of Law
Russell K. Osgood has an extensive background in university administration, as WashULaw dean from 2022 to June 2024, president of Grinnell College from July 1998 to July 2010, where he also was a professor of history and political science, and as dean of Cornell Law School from 1988 to 1998.
A 1969 graduate of Yale College and a 1974 graduate of Yale Law School, Osgood also served in the U.S. Navy and worked as a lawyer specializing in employee benefits. He is the author of multiple articles, and his books include Cases and Materials on Employee Benefits (with Peter Wiedenbeck), The Law in Massachusetts: The Supreme Judicial Court 1692-1992, and The Law of Pensions and Profit-Sharing: Qualified Retirement Plans and Other Deferred Compensation Arrangements.
Osgood is an expert on American legal history, employee benefits and pension law, and income taxation.