Air Law Institute (Chicago, Ill.)

The Air Law Institute, affiliated with the Northwestern University Law School, was founded in 1929 to foster the development of American air law and provide information about air law worldwide. These goals were promoted by: providing scholarships and fellowships for its participants; issuing reports and opinions on matters relative to air law; sponsoring an air law Summer Institute and the ensuing, annual National Legislative Air Conference (a precursor of the National Association of State Aviation Officials); sending participants to international conferences and sponsoring lectures nationally; building a comprehensive reference library; and publishing two journals, the Journal of Air Law and the Journal of Radio Law, financed by private contributions.

The Institute was organized as a not-for-profit corporation, and was patterned after the German Institut für Luftrecht. The Institute’s reach spanned both academia and business, as evidenced in the fact that the president of its Board of Directors was Robert R. McCormick, editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. The Air Law Institute was in operation until 1940.

...