Professor James Gordley Honored with Research Hall of Fame Award
Tulane Law Professor James Gordley has been awarded the 2025 Research Hall of Fame Award by the Tulane Office of Research, recognizing a lifetime of extraordinary scholarly achievement and global impact.
The honor was presented at the 2025 Tulane Research, Scholarship, and Artistic Achievement Awards, an annual ceremony celebrating the exceptional research accomplishments of Tulane faculty across disciplines. The Hall of Fame Award is among the university’s highest recognitions, honoring a renowned scholar whose career has substantially advanced knowledge, innovation, and creativity.
“It is the quality, depth, and transformative impact of Professor Gordley’s scholarship that sets him apart,” Law Dean Marcilynn Burke said. “His exploration into the historical and philosophical foundations of contract, tort, and property law has reshaped how comparative law is understood today.”
Over a career spanning five decades, Gordley’s work focused on comparative law and legal history and how the two bridge legal systems and traditions. His analysis, research and books have influenced generations of scholars worldwide. He is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Comparative Law, an honor given for extraordinary contributions and writing that have shaped the direction of American comparative and international law.
Since joining Tulane in 2007 after a distinguished career at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, Gordley has been instrumental in elevating Tulane’s international reputation. He has authored 11 books, many translated into multiple languages, and over 100 scholarly articles published in peer-reviewed journals across the United States, Europe, and Asia.
Gordley’s legacy is evident in his mentorship and influence on students and scholars around the world. As one Tulane Law student shared, “One minute spent in his classroom and you know he is passionate about what he teaches.”
Through a lifetime of pioneering scholarship, teaching, and global engagement, Professor Gordley exemplifies the highest ideals of academic excellence, making him a truly fitting recipient of the Tulane Research Hall of Fame Award.
