Scott '68 to deliver law school Commencement address
Robert E. Scott, the Alfred McCormack Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, will serve as the commencement speaker at William & Mary Law School's graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 17. Scott graduated from William & Mary Law School in 1968 and was editor-in-chief of the William & Mary Law Review.
The Law School ceremony, which will be held in the Sunken Gardens on the College of William & Mary's campus, begins at 3 p.m., and approximately 200 law students will receive degrees. Tom Brokaw, former anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News," will serve as commencement speaker at the College's campus-wide graduation ceremony at William and Mary Hall at noon.
"We truly are delighted to welcome Professor Scott back to his alma mater," said Lynda Butler, interim dean of William & Mary Law 
School. "His legal career can only be described as extraordinary. He has held professorships at the nation's top law schools, is among the leading scholars in the field of contracts, commercial transactions and bankruptcy law, and, as dean of the University of Virginia School of Law and president of the American Law School Deans Association, set new standards for excellence as an academic leader."
Scott taught law at William & Mary before joining the University of Virginia School of Law faculty in 1974. At UVa, Scott was Lewis F. Powell, Jr., Professor of Law from 1982 to 2003, and from 2003 to 2006 was the inaugural holder of the David and Mary Harrison Distinguished Professorship. In addition, he served as law school dean at the University of Virginia from 1991 to 2001 and as president of the American Law Deans Association from 1999 to 2001. In 2006, he joined the Columbia Law School faculty as the Alfred McCormack Professor of Law and Director of the Center on Contract and Economic Organization.
Scott has written numerous articles and co-authored five books, including Contract Law and Theory (with Jody S. Kraus), Payment Systems and Credit Instruments (with Clayton P. Gillette and Alan Schwartz), and The Limits of Leviathan - Contract Theory and the Enforcement of International Law (with Paul B. Stephan).
The University of Virginia awarded Scott its highest honor, the Thomas Jefferson Award, in 2004. In 2008, he accepted appointment to the College of William & Mary's Board of Visitors and currently is a member of the Committee on Academic Affairs and the Richard Bland College Committee.
