2021 Visionary Scholar
Eduardo M. Peñalver

Eduardo M. Peñalver is the Allan R. Tessler Dean and Professor of Law. He became Cornell Law School's 16th Dean on July 1, 2014 and the first Latino dean of an Ivy League law school. Dean Peñalver most recently served as the John P. Wilson Professor of Law at the University of Chicago Law School.

He received his B.A. from Cornell University and his law degree from Yale Law School. Between college and law school, he studied philosophy and theology as a Rhodes Scholar at Oriel College, Oxford. Upon completing law school, Dean Peñalver clerked for Judge Guido Calabresi of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and at the Supreme Court for Justice John Paul Stevens.

Dean Peñalver’s scholarship focuses on property and land use, as well as law and religion. His work explores the way in which the law mediates the interests of individuals and communities. His writing on property has appeared in numerous leading law journals. His book, Property Outlaws (co-authored with Sonia Katyal), published by Yale University Press in February 2010, explores the vital role of disobedience within the evolution of property law. His most recent book, An Introduction to Property Theory (co-authored with Gregory Alexander), was published by Cambridge University Press in 2011.

Dean Peñalver previously taught at Cornell Law School (2006-2012) and at Fordham Law School (2003-2006). He has also been a visiting professor at Harvard Law School and Yale Law School.