John F. Manning

John Francis Manning (born April 11, 1961) is an American legal scholar who serves as the 13th Dean of Harvard Law School. He was previously the Bruce Bromley Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (HLS), where he is a scholar of administrative and constitutional law.

John F. Manning
Manning in 2009
13th Dean of Harvard Law School
Incumbent
Assumed office July 1, 2017
President	Lawrence Bacow Claudine Gay Alan Garber
Preceded by	Martha Minow
Personal details
Born	(1961-04-11) April 11, 1961 (age 62) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education	Harvard University (BA, JD)

Manning received his undergraduate and legal education at Harvard University. After clerking for Judge Robert Bork and Justice Antonin Scalia, he was named the Michael I. Sovern Professor of Law at Columbia University. Manning moved to Harvard Law in 2002, becoming its deputy-dean, and assumed the deanship on July 1, 2017, succeeding Martha Minow.

Early life and education

Manning was born on April 11, 1961, in Los Angeles, California.^[1] He matriculated at Harvard College, where he was a resident of Quincy House,^[2] as a history major. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), summa cum laude, in 1982 with membership in Phi Beta Kappa.^[3][4] Manning then attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1985 and obtaining his Juris Doctor (J.D.), magna cum laude.^[5] Following law school, he served as a law clerk to Judge Robert Bork at the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1985 to 1986.^[6][7]

From 1986 to 1988, Manning was an attorney-advisor at the Office of Legal Counsel of the U.S. Department of Justice. He left to clerk for Justice Antonin Scalia at the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1988–1989 term.^[6][8] He was admitted to the bar of Pennsylvania in 1986, and to the bar of California in 1990.^[1]

Academic career

In 1989, Manning became an associate attorney at the law firm of Gibson Dunn in Washington, D.C. He left the firm to serve as an assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States at the Justice Department from 1991 until 1994,^[9] when he began teaching at Columbia Law School, becoming the school's Michael I. Sovern Professor of Law.^[10]

Manning became a visiting professor at Harvard Law School in 2002, and was named a professor there in 2004.^[11] He was invited to join the law school by dean Elena Kagan as part of an effort to increase conservative members of the faculty.^[7] Manning's hiring came among a new series of public legal scholars, also including Jack Goldsmith and Adrian Vermeule.^[12] He received the school's appointment as its Bruce Bromley Professor of Law in 2007 and remained in that capacity until 2017.^[10] In 2013, he became the deputy-dean of Harvard Law School.^[7] After the University of Arizona's James E. Rogers College of Law began accepting Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) results for student admission in 2016, Manning influenced Harvard Law's decision to also accept the GRE for admission, which the school announced in March 2017.^[8]

Martha Minow, the 12th dean of HLS, announced her intention to retire from the deanship on January 5, 2017, at the end of the academic year.^[13][14] After a selection process conducted by Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust and a faculty committee, it was announced on June 1, 2017, that Manning would serve as the next Dean of Harvard Law School.^[2] He assumed the position on July 1, 2017.^[15] His appointment to the role as Minow's successor was praised by former dean Elena Kagan, who had become an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.^[8] It was also endorsed by Danielle Allen, director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, and Judge David J. Barron of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.^[16] Affinity groups on campus had opposed Manning's appointment, and they instead supported David B. Wilkins.^[7][17]

Manning is an authority in administrative law and structural constitutional law,^[8] and has argued nine cases before the Supreme Court.^[8] Manning is also an expert on issues concerning separation of powers.^[18] He teaches administrative law, federal courts, legislation and regulation, separation of powers, and statutory interpretation.^[10] He was the co-editor of two notable casebooks: Hart and Wechsler’s Federal Courts and the Federal System^[a] as well as Legislation and Regulation.^[16][b] Manning's scholarship persuaded Justice Antonin Scalia to reconsider his majority opinion in Auer v. Robbins (1997).^[19]

Awards and honors

Manning has received the American Bar Association's Award for Scholarship in Administrative Law, and won twice the Willis Reese Prize for Excellence in Teaching of Columbia University.^[16] On April 30, 2013, Manning was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.^[20] He was elected as a member of the American Law Institute on August 1, 2018.^[10]

Selected works

• Manning, John F. (April 1996). "Constitutional Structure and Judicial Deference to Agency Interpretations of Agency Rules". Columbia Law Review. 96 (3): 612–696. doi:10.2307/1123259. JSTOR 1123259. SSRN 2849555.
• Manning, John F. (April 1997). "Textualism As a Nondelegation Doctrine". Columbia Law Review. 97 (3): 673–739. doi:10.2307/1123360. JSTOR 1123360. SSRN 2849460.
• Manning, John F. (2000). "The Nondelegation Doctrine as a Canon of Avoidance". The Supreme Court Review. University of Chicago Press. 2000: 223–277. doi:10.1086/scr.2000.3109680. JSTOR 3109680. S2CID 146859299. SSRN 2852573.
• Manning, John F. (January 2001). "Textualism and the Equity of the Statute". Columbia Law Review. 101 (1): 1–127. doi:10.2307/1123509. JSTOR 1123509. SSRN 2849561.
• Manning, John F. (June 2003). "The Absurdity Doctrine". Harvard Law Review. 116 (8): 2387–2486. doi:10.2307/1342768. JSTOR 1342768. SSRN 2849578.
• Manning, John F. (June 2004). "The Eleventh Amendment and the Reading of Precise Constitutional Texts". The Yale Law Journal. 113 (8): 1663–1750. doi:10.2307/4135780. JSTOR 4135780. SSRN 2852571.
• Manning, John F. (June 2004). "Nonlegislative Rules". George Washington Law Review. 72 (5): 893–945. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2852017. SSRN 2852017.
• Manning, John F. (2004). "Continuity and the Legislative Design". Notre Dame Law Review. 79 (5): 1863–1889.
• Manning, John F. (April 2005). "Textualism and Legislative Intent". Virginia Law Review. 91 (2): 419–450. JSTOR 3649428. SSRN 2853690.
• Manning, John F. (January 2006). "What Divides Textualists from Purposivists?". Columbia Law Review. 106 (1): 70–111. JSTOR 4099461. SSRN 2849247.
• Manning, John F. (2006). "Competing Presumptions About Statutory Coherence". Fordham Law Review. 74. SSRN 2854518.
• Manning, John F. (June 2009). "Federalism and the Generality Problem in Constitutional Interpretation". Harvard Law Review. 122 (8): 2003–2069. JSTOR 40379785. SSRN 2849593.

See also

• List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 9)

Notes

1. Manning was editor of the 6th edition, 2009, with Richard H. Fallon Jr., Daniel Meltzer, and David I. Shapiro.^[10]
2. Manning was editor of the 2nd edition, 2013, of Legislation and Regulation with Matthew C. Stephenson.^[10]

References

1. The Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, Incorporated. 2000. ISBN 978-1-56160-399-2.
2. Halper, Jamie D. (June 1, 2017). "Manning, Professor and Constitutional Law Scholar, Named Law School Dean". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
3. "The Letter and Spirit of the Constitution" (PDF). James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Princeton University. September 20, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
4. "John F. Manning". Law School Professor, Student, and Faculty Directory. Justia. 2017. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
5. "Attorney General Ashcroft Welcomes White House Nominee for Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Legal Counsel". United States Department of Justice. March 29, 2001. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
6. "John F. Manning: Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor of Law". Harvard Law School. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
7. Halper, Jamie D. (November 8, 2017). "A Dean for the Third Century". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
8. Olson, Elizabeth (2017-06-01). "Harvard Law School Names John Manning Its Next Dean". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
9. "President Bush to Nominate Six Individuals to Serve in His Administration". whitehouse.gov. March 29, 2001. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
10. Perkins, Christine (August 1, 2018). "Manning elected to American Law Institute". Harvard Law Today. Harvard Law School. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
11. "'Without the Pretense of Legislative Intent': John Manning delivers Scalia lecture". Harvard Law Today. Harvard Law School. March 13, 2017. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
12. Bennett, Drake (October 19, 2008). "Crimson tide: Harvard Law School, long fractious and underachieving, is on the rise again — and shaking up the American legal world". The Boston Globe. pp. 59–60. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
13. Sullivan, Casey (January 3, 2017). "Martha Minow to Step Down as Dean From Harvard Law". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
14. Gershman, Jacob (2017-01-04). "Harvard Law School Plans Search for New Dean". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
15. Rosenberg, John S. (July 1, 2017). "John Manning Appointed Dean of Harvard Law School: The faculty member succeeds Martha Minow". Harvard Magazine. Harvard University. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
16. "John Manning to lead Harvard Law School: Prominent constitutional scholar to become next dean starting in July". The Harvard Gazette. June 1, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
17. Mystal, Elie (2017-06-01). "John Manning Named New Dean Of Harvard Law School, White Men Rejoice". Above the Law. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
18. Gerstein, Josh (2005-03-10). "As Harvard Seeks a President, Dean Kagan's Star Is Rising". The New York Sun. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
19. Adler, Jonathan H. (2021-10-23). "Professor John Manning tapped to lead Harvard Law School". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-01-13.
20. "Manning elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences". Harvard Law Today. Harvard Law School. April 30, 2013. Retrieved 16 December 2017.

External links

• Harvard Faculty Bio
• Page at the Federalist Society
• Page at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences
• John F. Manning, videos at C-SPAN.
• Appearances at the U.S. Supreme Court from the Oyez Project

Academic offices
Preceded by Martha Minow	Dean of Harvard Law School 2017–present	Incumbent