Leland Ware, a nationally known authority on civil rights law, has joined the University as the first Louis L. Redding Chair for the Study of Law and Public Policy, an endowed professorship in the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy.

The author of numerous publications on civil rights law and a former law professor and trial attorney, Ware began his new position in September. He delivered an inaugural, public lecture Oct. 30 on "The Challenge of Louis Redding's Civil Rights Legacy" and will teach a graduate course during the spring semester on civil rights law and policy. The University, with wide community support, created the professorship to memorialize Mr. Redding, a civil rights pioneer from Wilmington, Del.

"Leland Ware is a scholar, teacher and community leader who will continue Louis Redding's legacy by inspiring future leaders in the area of law and public policy," UD Provost Mel Schiavelli says. "He shares Mr. Redding's commitment to using the law to achieve equality, diversity and social justice for all."

Ware, who says his choice of law as a career grew out of his involvement in civil rights issues in the 1960s, has written extensively on subjects including civil rights and higher education law, segregation, fair housing and affirmative action. The fact that the Redding Chair is designed specifically to combine teaching, scholarship and community involvement is what attracted him to the position, he says.

Ware says his wife, Melva, a professor of education at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, first saw a notice that UD was seeking applicants for the Redding Chair. "This sounds just like what you do," she told him. After reading the description of the position, "I had to agree with her," he says.

"The position calls for an unusual mix of academic qualifications, civil rights activism and a background in legal practice," Ware says. "I've long been interested in civil rights law and active in public outreach and community involvement. I'm looking forward to this opportunity as an exciting and enriching experience."

As the Redding Chair, Ware will work with faculty, staff and students in the graduate School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy and also will teach undergraduate students, focusing on the role of the law in public policy and social change. In addition, he will serve as a resource for the larger community, participating in research and public service projects and engaging community leaders and citizens on critical public issues. Plans also call for an annual conference on issues of race, diversity, law and public policy, which will include participation by community leaders and national scholars.

Ware earned his bachelor's degree in history from Fisk University in 1970 and his law degree from Boston College Law School in 1973. He was in private practice, focusing on civil litigation, in Atlanta until 1976, when he became assistant regional attorney for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. From 1979 to 1984, he was a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Division and was then university counsel for litigation for Howard University. In 1987, he joined the faculty of St. Louis University School of Law, where he taught civil rights law and social change, employment discrimination, civil procedure and administrative law.

He is a member of the Georgia and District of Columbia bars and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of the Missouri Bar and the Fair Housing Fair Lending Reporter. He also is a member of the national board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union.