Chase College of Law Appoints Jack Harrison as First Faculty Member To Hold College’s First Endowed Chair

May 16, 2023 - In a series of firsts, Professor Jack Harrison will become the first Northern Kentucky University Chase College of Law faculty member to hold the college’s first endowed academic chair in its 130-year history. Beginning with the 2023-24 academic year, Professor Harrison will hold the David and Nancy Wolf Chair in Ethics and Professional Identity, endowed this past year by a $1 million gift from Chase alumnus David Wolf and Nancy Wolf. 

“Professor Harrison’s expertise, passion and dedication to ethics and professionalism in the legal community make him uniquely qualified to hold the inaugural Wolf Chair,” Dean Judith Daar, the Ambassador Patricia L. Herbold Dean of Chase College of Law, said in announcing the appointment. “Our Chase community stands ready to support him in the role, knowing we will be uplifted by the superb teaching and leadership skills he brings to all aspects of his professional life.” 

Professor Harrison, who joined the Chase faculty in 2011, will direct programs that expand education in the areas of ethical conduct and social justice, enhance pro bono work and public-interest service by students, and provide training in diversity, equity and inclusion. 

With his combined experience as a practicing lawyer, a law professor and a seminarian with a degree in theology, Professor Harrison brings a unique background to the endowed chair. 

“My years living in community in seminary provided me with a rare opportunity to engage with ideas of identity and ethics through the work of great ethicists and moral theologians, some rooted in religion, some not so much. My appreciation for the inextricable connection between ethics and identity grew out this experience,” he says. 

Prior to joining the Chase faculty, Professor Harrison practiced for almost 20 years in major Cincinnati law firms, defending clients in the areas of product liability and employment discrimination. In addition to holding the Wolf Chair, he will continue to teach in his areas of expertise, which include courses such as Torts, Civil Procedure, Professional Responsibility, and Sexual Orientation and the Law. He also will continue to serve as director of the Chase Center for Excellence in Advocacy, which offers students experience primarily in courtroom advocacy. 

The endowment of the Wolf Chair by Mr. and Mrs. Wolf is part of their widely recognizable philanthropy in Cincinnati, which includes the Nancy & David Wolf Holocaust & Humanity Center at the Cincinnati Museum Center and the Nancy and David Wolf Gallery of the Cincinnati Art Museum, which displays artwork they donated. Mr. Wolf, whose professional career has focused on real estate development, is a 1965 graduate of Chase.