Ward Farnsworth


Ward Farnsworth is Professor of Law and holder of the W. Page Keeton Chair at the University of Texas School of Law, where he was Dean from 2012 to 2022. He served as Reporter for the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law Third, Torts: Liability for Economic Harm, and is the author of books on law, rhetoric, philosophy, and chess.

Education and clerkships

Farnsworth graduated from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut in 1989 and with high honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 1994.
Immediately after law school, Farnsworth served as a law clerk for Judge Richard A. Posner on the Seventh Circuit and then clerked for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court. He then worked as a Legal Adviser to the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague.

Academic career

Prior to beginning his tenure as dean at Texas, Farnsworth taught for 15 years at Boston University School of Law, and served several years as associate dean for academic affairs. He was appointed Dean of the University of Texas School of Law in May 2012. He has received many teaching awards over the years, including the United Methodist Scholar/Teacher of the Year Award in 2009 from Boston University.

Publications

Farnsworth has written on a wide range of subjects. His legal writing includes articles on economic analysis of law, constitutional law, statutory interpretation, and legal applications of cognitive psychology. He is author of Restitution: Civil Liability for Unjust Enrichment, and The Legal Analyst: A Toolkit for Thinking About the Law, an acclaimed guide to interdisciplinary approaches to legal thought. He is Reporter for the American Law Institute’s Restatement Third, Torts: Liability for Economic Harm. He also is the co-author of a casebook on the law of torts, and co-author of a casebook on the law of restitution, both published by Aspen.
Farnsworth is the author of four books on the English language: Farnsworth's Classical English Rhetoric, Farnsworth's Classical English Metaphor, Farnsworth's Classical English Style, and Farnsworth's Classical English Argument, all of which have received critical acclaim. He is also the author of two books on philosophy, The Practicing Stoic and The Socratic Method, and a treatise on chess, which is available online.