With historic support, Dean Rich Freer charts Emory Law’s future
On Rich Freer’s desk sits a compass. It points north. True North. As the new dean of Emory University School of Law, he applies it metaphorically to all that he does and aspires to accomplish. “Does this proposal lead to academic eminence?” he asks. “Does it lead to students flourishing?” With these guiding questions, Freer charts his vision for Emory Law, navigating the steps necessary to propel the school forward.
In his first 100 days as dean, Freer—who taught at the school for four decades—made his drive clear: a focus on Emory Law’s core mission of educating sophisticated, principled lawyers equipped to serve their clients and lead their communities.
To him, flourishing is more than legal success; it’s about personal growth and service, which he feels transports the practice of law from a mere profession to a personal calling. “The law is a noble profession because it’s about service. You are dedicating your professional life to solving other people’s problems,” he says. “The clients are putting part of their lives, part of their businesses, in your hands, and that’s a huge responsibility.”
For more than a century, Emory Law has guided students on this path, training them to become lawyers grounded in integrity, empathy, fairness, and accountability. Freer’s vision is to elevate Emory Law for the long term through a focus on student flourishing—academically, professionally, personally—and by fostering academic distinction among faculty, already nationally renowned for their scholarship.
With support from alumni and benefactors, cutting-edge scholarship and innovative teaching from the faculty, and engagement from students, Freer is determined to lead Emory Law to new heights. Every decision is guided by True North and grounded in a rigorous focus on fundamentals, on building professional skills, which lead to self-confidence.
Inspiring Game-Changing Support
Emory Law alumni are expressing enthusiasm and excitement for Freer and his vision. Since Freer took office in July, Emory Law has secured an unprecedented $18 million in investments. Inspired by his leadership, generous donors have come forward to establish endowments and distinguished professorships. They have contributed to scholarship funds and invested in centers and related programming, manifesting a shared commitment to Emory Law’s present and future successes. Through historic philanthropic support, these donors—along with others who will undoubtedly join them—are investing in Emory Law today. They are investing in Freer and where he is bound to lead Emory Law tomorrow.
Two Emory Law alumni, John Latham 79L and Facundo Bacardi 96L, have stepped forward with gifts that Freer says will pave the way for hiring top-notch legal scholars, particularly in the areas of civil litigation and business law.
In similar fashion, Bacardi, who serves on Emory’s Board of Trustees, has committed to funding senior-level scholars and practitioners who will enhance Emory Law’s academic environment by offering specialized knowledge in business law, which is crucial for students wishing to enter corporate legal practice.
With new faculty members specializing in civil litigation and business law, students will have greater access to specialized courses and advanced legal training in these core areas. The new hires will build upon the excellence and academic rigor for which Emory Law has long been known.
Carney has known Freer for 41 years and shares his vision for Emory Law. “Dean Freer has good values, both academic and professional,” he says. “He understands the practice of law and what students need, and I believe he will elevate the prominence of the school’s business law component.”
Central to Carney’s vision—and Freer’s—is melding legal education with practical skills training to allow Emory graduates to enter the profession practice-ready. His transformative investment will leverage the center’s place in Atlanta, one of the world’s most important business hubs.
Atlanta as a home of entrepreneurial activity and commercial success is something Emory alumna Ellen Agnor Bailey 63C 87MBA knows well.
He understands the practice of law and what students need, and I believe he will elevate the prominence of the school’s business law component.
A trustee emerita and the niece of beloved Emory Law professor William Agnor, she remembers visiting her uncle in the law building when she was a child. Her mother, daughter, and two granddaughters are Emory alumni, as well. Bailey is a successful businesswoman and consultant with deep connections to both the Emory and the Atlanta communities. Throughout her career, she has experienced and benefited from the value of good, ethical lawyers with whom she has enjoyed true working partnerships.
Those experiences, in part, inspired her to invest in Freer and Emory Law. Bailey has supported the university, financially and otherwise, for 56 consecutive years. Now she has made a gift to fund a law faculty award and endow a professorship, both in memory of her late fiancé, Judge Hilton Monroe Fuller Jr. 64L, who served as a professor, litigator, and DeKalb County Superior Court judge.
Bailey says her family has long valued education as a building block for the future. She counts as many as 14 Emory degrees among family members, and this connection adds remarkable depth to her giving. “Emory has been part of our family for as long as I can remember,” she says. “Emory isn’t just a school to us—it’s a place that shaped who we are. My family believes education is one of the most important gifts one can give, and that’s why we felt strongly about supporting Emory Law in this way. Our hope is that by giving back to the law school, we’re helping to shape the future of students who will make a difference in the world.”
With nearly 200 years of collective involvement with Emory Law—whether as students, professors, donors, or all three—these philanthropists are investing their treasure, in addition to their time and talent, in the school. They are confident that Freer will lead Emory Law into an exciting new era as is Emory President Gregory L. Fenves.
“Rich Freer has been an extraordinary professor and a dedicated member of the Emory Law community for decades,” says President Fenves. “He has the vision, skill, and commitment to elevate the School of Law in profound ways, and I see that demonstrated by the tremendous support Dean Freer’s leadership has garnered in just his first 100 days.”
This support has allowed Emory Law to secure essential resources for recruiting leading faculty members, enhancing academic programs, and attracting talented students. These initiatives are only possible through the enduring generosity of benefactors like Carney, Latham, Bailey, and Bacardi.
Looking to the Future
As Freer considers the future, he will not stray from the two questions that have guided his term to this point: will a proposal (1) enhance academic eminence and (2) enhance student flourishing.
Guided by those pillars, the Law School will enhance current partnerships with the university and beyond—and build new, strategic partnerships—to bolster Emory Law as a leader in legal education. The school needs to be nimble enough to adapt while remaining rooted in the values that have defined the school for 108 years.
Through their generous giving, Freer says, donors are modeling service, sacrifice, and leadership. “Those investing in us could do a lot of other things with their wealth, support a lot of other causes,” he says. “That they are investing in Emory Law is at once humbling and energizing. They are saying that they they believe in us. They believe in where the school is going.”
And with Freer at the helm, that direction is decidedly True North.
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