W&M names new law library in honor of alumnus Henry C. Wolf

The library under construction at William & Mary Law School has been named the Wolf Law Library to honor alumnus and Vice Rector of the College Henry C. Wolf, Law School Dean W. Taylor Reveley III announced recently.

Wolf, the Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of Norfolk Southern Corporation, received his B.A. from the College in 1964 and his J.D. from the Law School in 1966. He was appointed to the College’s Board of Visitors in 2003 and currently serves as Vice Rector. In May 2006, the Law School recognized Wolf by selecting him for honorary membership in Order of the Coif, a national honor society that recognizes intellectual and professional accomplishment.

“The College’s Board and administration have benefited from Hank Wolf’s friendship, leadership, and example for years, but Marshall-Wythe—his first love at William and Mary—is nigh impossible to imagine without him,” said William & Mary President Gene R. Nichol. “It is more than fitting that its marvelous new law library will bear his and Dixie’s name. I join Dean Reveley in profound gratitude to them both.”

“Over the years, Hank Wolf has been a stalwart friend and a wise counselor to his law school,” said Dean of the Law School W. Taylor Reveley III. “He is a person of extraordinary caliber, who stands squarely in the tradition of the citizen lawyer so prized here. Hank and Dixie’s commitment to Marshall-Wythe’s having one of the best law libraries in the country is inspiring, and their great generosity has been crucial to this end.”

In addition to serving on the College’s Board of Visitors, Wolf is an emeritus member of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science Council and a former member of the Board of Visitors of the Eastern Virginia Medical School. He currently serves on the board of directors of AGL Resources, the Hertz Corporation, and Shenandoah Life Insurance Company. His wife, Dixie Wolf, serves on the board of the College’s Muscarelle Museum and is the 2006-07 Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Chrysler Museum of Art.

The completed Wolf Law Library will open in spring 2007. Lead architects for the $16.8 million project are Hayes, Seay, Mattern & Mattern, with construction by the W.M. Jordan Company. In the first phase of the project, which was completed in June, a three-story, 28,000-square-foot addition was built onto the Law School’s south side. The addition, visible from South Henry Street, now serves as a temporary library while crews work on the complete renovation of the original library built in the late 1970s. In the final phase of the project, a new library will emerge when what is newly built and what is newly renovated are seamlessly joined to create a facility of 58,000 square feet. The new facility will accommodate anticipated growth in book and journal collections and will place the latest electronic research tools at the fingertips of its patrons. Features include two reading rooms and a large study area that afford views of the outdoors, abundant seating with Internet access, and a rare book room that will display such items as Chief Justice John Marshall’s family Bible and pleadings signed by George Wythe.

William & Mary established the first law school in the United States in 1779. George Wythe, a leading lawyer and statesman during the American Revolution, was the College’s first professor of law. John Marshall, who had a seminal impact on American history as the nation’s fourth Chief Justice, was among Wythe’s first law students at William and Mary.