Aaron Director

Aaron Director (September 21,1901 – September 11, 2004), a celebrated professor at the University of Chicago Law School, played a central role in the development of the Chicago school of economics. Together with his better known brother-in-law, Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, Director influenced a generation of jurists, including Robert Bork, Richard Posner, Antonin Scalia and Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

He founded the Journal of Law & Economics in 1958, which he co-edited with Nobel laureate Ronald Coase, that helped to unite the fields of law and economics with far-reaching influence.

Born 1901 in Charterisk, Ukraine, Director immigrated to the United States, and then attended Yale University immediately after World War I. His sister, Rose Friedman, married Milton Friedman in 1938. During World War II, he held positions in the War Department and the Department of Commerce.

In 1946, Director's appointment to the faculty of the University of Chicago Law School began a half-century of intellectual productivity, although his reluctance about publishing left few writings behind. Director taught antitrust courses at the law school with Edward Levi, who eventually would serve as Dean of Chicago’s Law School, President of the University of Chicago, and as U.S. Attorney General in the Ford administration.

Aaron Director died September 11, 2004 in California.