Two Northwestern Pritzker School of Law Faculty Members Appointed to Endowed Professorships

On April 21, 2025, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law hosted an installation ceremony celebrating two faculty members’ scholarly accomplishments and their recent appointments to endowed professorships: Ajay K. Mehrotra as Stanford Clinton Sr. and Zylpha Kilbride Clinton Research Professor of Law and David L. Schwartz as William G. & Virginia K. Karnes Research Professor of Law.

Established professorships recognize senior faculty members for their significant scholarly work and serve as a lasting commemoration of the benefactor who creates them. Dean Hari Osofsky led the proceedings, with Professors Shari Seidman Diamond and Matthew L. Spitzer introducing the honorees.

The ceremony highlighted the major scholarly contributions of Professors Mehrotra and Schwartz. As Dean Osofsky addressed the attendees gathered in Lincoln Hall, she underscored the important role that accomplished faculty have in the reputation of the Law School.

“The two professors we are honoring today, Professors Ajay Mehrotra and Dave Schwartz, have not only impacted scholarly understanding and participated in important public policy conversations through their cutting-edge scholarly work, but also contributed through their leadership in important ways to scholarship and needed collaboration across disciplines,” she said.

The two professors shared the impact of the honor as they officially accepted their chairs.

Ajay K. Mehrotra
Stanford Clinton Sr. and Zylpha Kilbride Clinton Research Professor of Law

After thanking Dean Osofsky and Professor Diamond for their generous introductions, Professor Mehrotra, a legal historian with a particular focus on tax law and fiscal policy, described how his research mirrors the life work of the chair’s donor, Stanford Clinton Sr.

“In many ways, Stanford Clinton, Sr. was what legal historians refer to as a ‘citizen-lawyer’ because he used his knowledge, expertise, and prominence to advance social issues such as racial and economic justice in Chicago and its suburbs,” Mehrotra noted. “The historical figures I study and write and teach about were also ‘citizen lawyers’ because they too used their legal knowledge, expertise and influence to promote the public good and general welfare; in their case in creating a more equitable system of taxation.”

Professor Mehrotra is a legal historian with a focus on tax law and fiscal policy. He is also an Affiliated Professor of History at Northwestern University and a Research Professor at the American Bar Foundation (ABF). His scholarship explores law and political economy in historical and comparative perspective, with a particular focus on tax law and fiscal policy. He has authored Making the Modern American Fiscal State: Law, Politics, and the Rise of Progressive Taxation, 1877-1929 (2013) and co-edited several other significant volumes. Before joining Northwestern, he taught at Indiana University, where he also served as Associate Dean for Research.

David L. Schwartz
William G. & Virginia K. Karnes Research Professor of Law

Professor Schwartz, a leading scholar in intellectual property and patent law, was appointed the William G. & Virginia K. Karnes Research Professor of Law. His scholarship—particularly his empirical work—has helped shape contemporary understanding of how the patent system functions in practice. After thanking his colleagues and family, Professor Schwartz reflected on the evolving role of data in legal scholarship.

“The support of the Karnes Professorship allows me to continue pursuing a research agenda that looks critically and carefully at how our legal institutions operate,” he said. “My hope is that work like ours can help improve the transparency, accountability, and fairness of the courts, especially in complex and technical areas of the law like intellectual property.”

Professor Schwartz joined Northwestern Pritzker Law in 2015 and served as Associate Dean for Research & Intellectual Life from 2019 until 2022. His research focuses on empirical studies of patents, and he has authored or co-authored more than 30 articles. He is also a Co-Principal Investigator of the NSF-funded Systematic Content Analysis of Litigation EventS Open Knowledge Network (SCALES OKN), which aims to improve transparency in the courts. Before entering academia, Schwartz practiced intellectual property law for over a decade.

The installation ceremony underscored the vital role these faculty members play not only in shaping the legal landscape through their scholarly work but also in fostering a thriving academic community. With the support of their endowed professorships, they are poised to continue their groundbreaking contributions to law and society.

“The Professors Mehrotra and Schwartz are tremendous scholars who help us re-examine how we understand law, build needed connections between law and other disciplines, and make a difference on critical public policy issues,” Dean Osofsky said.