I just wanted to follow up on Dana's point below about the tenure offer the University of Chicago Law School made to Obama. Paul Campos objected to someone with "only" a bachelor's and a JD getting tenure. This struck me as odd, as I was under the impression that a JD was a sufficient credential for law teaching. So I decided to scour through the UChicago law school's website. Of 34 full-time faculty members:
- 24 have tenure.
- Of those with tenure, half (12) have only a bachelor's and a JD.
- 6 have a bachelor's, a JD, and a PhD.
- 2 have a bachelor's, a master's, and a JD.
- 2 have a bachelor's, a PhD, but no JD.
- One (Omri Ben-Shahar) managed to earn a bachelor's, an LLB (a JD equivalent), a PhD, and an SJD (a legal doctoral degree).
So while Obama wasn't as credentialed as all of the University's tenured law faculty, he was easily credentialed enough to receive tenure. Indeed, he had the same combination of degrees as the plurality of the tenured faculty. Even if Obama didn't have the extra-academic qualifications that Dana rightly touts, Campos is on seriously thin ground here.
--Dylan Matthews
