Gerhard Casper served as the President of the American Academy in Berlin from July 2015 to July 2016. He is President Emeritus of Stanford University, and a Professor of Law Emeritus at Stanford Law School. A lifelong leader in academia and an esteemed scholar of constitutional law, he served as Stanford University’s president from 1992 to 2000. Before joining Stanford, Professor Casper was a longtime faculty member at the University of Chicago, where he served as provost of the University, dean of the law school, and a professor of law. He began his career as a professor of political science at the University of California at Berkeley.
A native of Hamburg, Germany, he studied law at the Universities of Freiburg and Hamburg, where he earned his first law degree. After studying in the United States, he then returned to Freiburg, where he received his doctorate, writing his dissertation on the realist movement in American law.
Professor Casper was elected to the ALI in 1977 and was elected to the Council in 1980. He took Emeritus status in 2010 and he currently serves as an Adviser on the Principles of the Law of Charitable Nonprofit Organizations project.
EDUCATION: Universities of Freiburg and Hamburg Legal State Examination, Hamburg; Yale Law School, LL.M.; University of Freiburg, Dr. iur. utr.