Alumnus endows new international law center at Cornell Law School

By Linda Myers

A major gift from a Cornell Law School alumnus and his wife has endowed a center for international and comparative law studies that now has its first director.

Approved by the Cornell Board of Trustees this past October, the Clarke Center for International and Comparative Legal Studies was created through an endowment gift from Jack Clarke, L.L.B. '52, and his wife, Dorothea, that supports a directorship, several professorships and a range of international and comparative law initiatives at the Law School.

Larry Bush, who became the program's director this January, comes to Cornell from the University of Mississippi Law School, where he was a professor for 20 years, teaching labor and employment law, civil procedure, international and comparative law, and human rights. He founded the school's summer law program at the University of Cambridge, directed it and taught comparative law in the program. In addition he was a Fulbright lecturer at the University of Bucharest in Romania and has done field work there and in Thailand in international labor rights.

In his new position, Bush will oversee the Law School's Paris Summer Institute and joint degree-granting programs with universities in Paris and Berlin. He also will help develop new initiatives, working with the school's International Programs Committee, and he will organize talks and conferences as well as support faculty members who teach in international or comparative law areas.

In addition to the directorship, the Clarkes have endowed a professorship in comparative law and one in East Asian legal studies. Their gift also provides funds for Middle East and East Asian law programs, including speakers, conferences and related travel.

In addition, the endowment underwrites the Clarke International Fellowships in Feminist Legal Theory. It allocates funds for new acquisitions for the Cornell Law Library's international and comparative law collections and supports a Law School program to recognize and involve alumni engaged in international and comparative law.

Jack Clarke is a retired director and senior vice president of Exxon Corp. Dorothea Clarke is involved in managing the couple's philanthropic efforts.