Kurland, Philip B.

Philip B. Kurland (JD'44 Harvard Law) spent the bulk of his teaching career at the University of Chicago Law School. A well respected and widely published expert in the field of constitutional law, Kurland often lent his expertise to the United States government. He acted as a consultant to the Senate Judiciary Committee during both the Watergate scandal and the controversial nomination of Robert H. Bork to the Supreme Court. The Philip B. Kurland Papers cover many different aspects of Kurland's professional career: scholarly writings and research, teaching materials, extensive correspondence, and materials related to his recurring role as a constitutional consultant to the United States government. Additionally, Kurland kept extensive collections of press clippings - either pieces penned by himself or commentaries on cases and issues with which he was involved.

Philip B. Kurland (1921-1996) took his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1942 and in 1944 graduated from Harvard University where he served as editor of The Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he clerked for Judge Jerome N. Frank of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and subsequently for Justice Felix Frankfurter of the Supreme Court. Kurland then worked for the Department of Justice and practiced law in New York City before accepting a teaching position with Northwestern University in 1950. Three years later, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago Law School and there remained until his retirement in 1991.

Over the course of his career, Kurland served as a consultant to Congress on many different occasions. Usually called upon for his expertise in constitutional law and the Supreme Court, Kurland was involved in such highly-publicized affairs as Watergate and the Bork nomination. No stranger to controversy, Kurland also published widely on the Regents of the University of California v. Bakke affirmative action case and on the federal funding of parochial schools.

Kurland was also a renowned expert on the Supreme Court and founded The Supreme Court Review in 1960. He served as editor of the publication from its founding through 1988 and garnered praise from the legal community for publishing a journal whose content was deemed essential to the practice of law by lawyers and judges alike.

Kurland died in Chicago in 1996 and was survived by his wife, Alice Hoag Bator, and his three daughters, Julie, Martha, and Ellen.