Historical Faculty

Leslie Craven was an eminent railroad attorney who had been friends with Dean Justin Miller for years.  As part of Miller’s efforts to assemble a law school faculty that would rival the best in the country, he invited Craven to come to Duke Law to teach public utility law and taxation.  Craven accepted in late 1931.

Craven completed his A.B. at Stanford in 1909.  Although he studied at Harvard Law School in 1909 and 1910, he completed his J.D. at Stanford in 1911.  After being in general practice for a few years, Craven became counsel for the President’s Conference Committee on the Federal Valuation of Railroads.  Craven remained in that position until he joined the Duke Law faculty in 1932.  He became a part-time member of the research staff for the Federal Coordinator of Transportation in 1933, and assumed a full-time position there in 1935.  

Sources:

Duke University, School of Law, Bulletin of Duke University School of Law [serial]

Robert F. Durden, The Rebuilding of Duke University's School of Law, 1925-1947 (Part I)[https://perma.cc/K4QM-XH3A], vol. LXVI, no. 3, July 1989 North Carolina History Review 321

Robert F. Durden, The Rebuilding of Duke University's School of Law, 1925-1947 (Part II)[https://perma.cc/V2QP-KHR2], vol. LXVI, no. 4, October 1989 North Carolina History Review 443

Robert F. Durden, The Launching of Duke University, 1924-1949 (1993)