Aaron Director
Encyclopedia
Aaron Director a celebrated professor at the University of Chicago Law School
, played a central role in the development of the Chicago school of economics
. Together with his better known brother-in-law, Nobel laureate Milton Friedman
, Director influenced a generation of jurists, including Robert Bork
, Richard Posner
, Antonin Scalia
and Chief Justice William Rehnquist
.
, Volynskaya
guberniya
, Russian Empire
(now in the Ukraine
) on September 21, 1901. In 1913, he and his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Portland, Oregon
. In Portland, Director attended Lincoln High School where he served as the yearbook editor. He then moved east to attend Yale University
in Connecticut where he graduated in 1924 after three years of study. In 1926, he returned to Portland where he was hired to run and teach at the Portland Labor College. As a radical, his invitations to Communists and Wobblies created friction with the AFL craft unions which sponsored the College. After two years, he left for Chicago, where his radicalism was exchanged for a lifelong conservative ideology. His sister, Rose Friedman
(1911–2009), married Milton Friedman (1912–2006) in 1938. During World War II, he held positions in the War Department and the Department of Commerce.
, that helped to unite the fields of law and economics with far-reaching influence. In 1962, he helped to found the Committee on a Free Society.
In 1946, Director's appointment to the faculty of the University of Chicago Law School began a half-century of intellectual productivity, although his reluctance about publishing left few writings behind. Director taught antitrust courses at the law school with Edward Levi, who eventually would serve as Dean of Chicago’s Law School, President of the University of Chicago, and as U.S. Attorney General
in the Ford administration.
After retiring from the University of Chicago Law School in 1965, Director relocated to California and took a position at Stanford University
’s Hoover Institution
. He died September 11, 2004, at his home in Los Altos Hills, California; he was ten days shy of his 103rd birthday.
University of Chicago Law School
The University of Chicago Law School was founded in 1902 as the graduate school of law at the University of Chicago and is among the most prestigious and selective law schools in the world. The U.S. News & World Report currently ranks it fifth among U.S...
, played a central role in the development of the Chicago school of economics
Chicago school (economics)
The Chicago school of economics describes a neoclassical school of thought within the academic community of economists, with a strong focus around the faculty of The University of Chicago, some of whom have constructed and popularized its principles...
. Together with his better known brother-in-law, Nobel laureate Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman
Milton Friedman was an American economist, statistician, academic, and author who taught at the University of Chicago for more than three decades...
, Director influenced a generation of jurists, including Robert Bork
Robert Bork
Robert Heron Bork is an American legal scholar who has advocated the judicial philosophy of originalism. Bork formerly served as Solicitor General, Acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...
, Richard Posner
Richard Posner
Richard Allen Posner is an American jurist, legal theorist, and economist who is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago and a Senior Lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School...
, Antonin Scalia
Antonin Scalia
Antonin Gregory Scalia is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. As the longest-serving justice on the Court, Scalia is the Senior Associate Justice...
and Chief Justice William Rehnquist
William Rehnquist
William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American lawyer, jurist, and political figure who served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States and later as the 16th Chief Justice of the United States...
.
Early life
Director was born in Staryi ChortoryiskStaryi Chortoryisk
Staryi Chortoryisk is a village in north-western Ukraine. It is located on the bank of the Styr River in the Manevytskyi Raion of the Volyn Oblast ....
, Volynskaya
Novohrad-Volynskyi
Novohrad-Volynskyi is a city in the Zhytomyr Oblast of northern Ukraine...
guberniya
Guberniya
A guberniya was a major administrative subdivision of the Russian Empire usually translated as government, governorate, or province. Such administrative division was preserved for sometime upon the collapse of the empire in 1917. A guberniya was ruled by a governor , a word borrowed from Latin ,...
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(now in the Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) on September 21, 1901. In 1913, he and his family immigrated to the United States and settled in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. In Portland, Director attended Lincoln High School where he served as the yearbook editor. He then moved east to attend Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
in Connecticut where he graduated in 1924 after three years of study. In 1926, he returned to Portland where he was hired to run and teach at the Portland Labor College. As a radical, his invitations to Communists and Wobblies created friction with the AFL craft unions which sponsored the College. After two years, he left for Chicago, where his radicalism was exchanged for a lifelong conservative ideology. His sister, Rose Friedman
Rose Friedman
Rose Director Friedman , also known as Rose D. Friedman and Rose Director was a professor at the University of Chicago Law School. She was the wife of Milton Friedman , the winner of the 1976 Nobel Prize in Economics, and sister of Aaron Director...
(1911–2009), married Milton Friedman (1912–2006) in 1938. During World War II, he held positions in the War Department and the Department of Commerce.
Academic
He founded the Journal of Law & Economics in 1958, which he co-edited with Nobel laureate Ronald CoaseRonald Coase
Ronald Harry Coase is a British-born, American-based economist and the Clifton R. Musser Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Chicago Law School. After studying with the University of London External Programme in 1927–29, Coase entered the London School of Economics, where he took...
, that helped to unite the fields of law and economics with far-reaching influence. In 1962, he helped to found the Committee on a Free Society.
In 1946, Director's appointment to the faculty of the University of Chicago Law School began a half-century of intellectual productivity, although his reluctance about publishing left few writings behind. Director taught antitrust courses at the law school with Edward Levi, who eventually would serve as Dean of Chicago’s Law School, President of the University of Chicago, and as U.S. Attorney General
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may also have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.The term is used to refer to any person...
in the Ford administration.
After retiring from the University of Chicago Law School in 1965, Director relocated to California and took a position at Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
’s Hoover Institution
Hoover Institution
The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace is a public policy think tank and library founded in 1919 by then future U.S. president, Herbert Hoover, an early alumnus of Stanford....
. He died September 11, 2004, at his home in Los Altos Hills, California; he was ten days shy of his 103rd birthday.