The Douglass Building, built in 1904 as the University Library and reassigned to the College of Law in 1925, was completely remodeled for the College of Law by 1929.
George Geyer, Tucson, Arizona
The College of Law turns 100 this year, 2025. We celebrated our great institution's 100th anniversary, however, in 2015, because the Department of Law was formed within the College of Letters, Arts & Sciences in 1915. The Department of Law's status was raised to a School of Law in 1919, still within the College of Letters, Arts & Sciences. Then, in 1925, we became the University of Arizona's fifth College. Our research revealed that the first law courses at the university were offered as early as 1909.
This College of Law historical research project is an ongoing effort to share the history of our great institution with our community. In this first phase of the project, you will find a published history of the College of Law Library and brief biographies profiling each of College of Law deans for the last 100 years.
- College of Law Library
- Dean Samuel Marks Fegtly (1925-1938)
- Dean J. Byron McCormick (1938-1947)
- Dean John D. Lyons, II (1947-1966)
- Dean Charles E. Ares (1966-1973)
- Dean Joseph M. Livermore (1973-1977)
- Dean Roger C. Henderson (1977-1983)
- Dean Paul Marcus (1983-1988)
- Dean Thomas Sullivan (1989-1995)
- Dean Joel Seligman (1995-1999)
- Dean Toni M. Massaro (1999-2009)
- Dean Lawrence Ponoroff (2009-2012)
- Dean Marc L. Miller (2012-2025)
- Interim Deans
This project complements other College of Law memory projects such as the Lives in the Law oral history and interview series, and the law library's many Special & Digital Collections.