Langdell West Wing Renamed To Honor Areeda

The Harvard Law School renamed a wing of one of its buildings in honor of the late Langdell Professor of Law Phillip E. Areeda '51, who was considered the nation's foremost expert on antitrust law.

In a ceremony yesterday on the front steps of the new Areeda Hall, formerly Langdell Hall West Wing, Law School Dean Robert. C. Clark dedicated the building to Areeda in front of a crowd of 150 former students and colleagues.

"[Areeda] spent much of his professional life in this building; it is fitting that it was dedicated to him," Clark said. "He was the master of anti-trust. In anti-trust law he had a monopoly of knowledge."

Areeda, who died of leukemia on December 24, was best known for his 10-volume treatise Antitrust Law, a standard in the field.

"Most practitioners would rather have two paragraphs of Areeda's treatise on their side than three Courts of Appeals or four Superme Court justices," wrote Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer in last month's Harvard Law Review, an issue devoted entirely to Areeda.

But many in the audience chose to remember Areeda for his fabled teaching rather than for his extensive writings.

Tony Rossmann '63, a former Law School student of Areeda's, said he models his own teaching after the late professor.

"One day I wandered into his office before lecture and he was simply immersed in his notes," Rossmann said. "I try to follow his example of incredible preparation."

Royall Professor of Law Emeritus Clark Byse a speaker at the ceremony and a colleague of Areeda's for the last three decades, said that Areeda should be remembered for his teaching.

"Teaching was a vital part of Phillip Areeda's life," Byse wrote in the Law Record. "He cared deeply about his students. He was a master of the Socratic method."

Areeda was posthumously awarded the Albert M. Sacks-Paul A. Freund Award for Teaching Excellence by the Law School class of 1996, an honor given to one professor by each graduating class.

Areeda also won the award in 1994; he is the only two-time recipient.

The renaming also recognized Areeda's donation of more than $5 million to the Law School last year. His gift was the second largest to the Law School from an individual in the school's history

Areeda was posthumously awarded the Albert M. Sacks-Paul A. Freund Award for Teaching Excellence by the Law School class of 1996, an honor given to one professor by each graduating class.

Areeda also won the award in 1994; he is the only two-time recipient.

The renaming also recognized Areeda's donation of more than $5 million to the Law School last year. His gift was the second largest to the Law School from an individual in the school's history