Prof. Oren Gross Appointed Everett Fraser Professor of Law

The University of Minnesota Law School has named longtime faculty member Oren Gross the Everett Fraser Professor of Law, recognizing his internationally renowned scholarship, global engagement, and contributions to the Law School.

Gross, a leading expert in international law and national security law, is also widely recognized for his work on the Middle East and the Arab-Israeli conflict. His appointment to the Fraser chair follows two decades as the Irving Younger Professor of Law and reflects both his scholarly influence and institutional leadership.

The Everett Fraser Professorship honors one of the Law School’s most transformative leaders, whose influence can still be seen in Minnesota Law’s priorities today. Fraser served as dean from 1920 to 1948. In that long tenure, he advanced an ambitious vision of the Law School as a “research agency,” aligning faculty scholarship with law reform and public service. A respected property scholar and contributor to the American Law Institute’s Restatements, Fraser also pioneered the “Minnesota Plan,” integrating legal doctrine with broader explorations of legal culture and encouraging interdisciplinary work. His legacy includes building a self-sustaining intellectual community by hiring some of the Law School’s most notable graduates.

“With his influential and rigorous scholarship, his involvement in cutting-edge debates, and his longstanding service to the Law School, Oren Gross is a natural heir to the legacy of Dean Fraser and the right person to hold a chair in his name,” says Dean William McGeveran, William S. Pattee Professor of Law. “Oren’s work bridges theory and practice in ways that strengthen both. He has produced scholarship that shapes experts’ views about law and security around the world.”

Before joining Minnesota Law in 2002, Gross served on the faculty of Tel Aviv University Law School. He has also held visiting appointments at Harvard Law School, Princeton University, the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, the Max Planck Institute for International Law and Comparative Public Law in Heidelberg, the Transitional Justice Institute in Belfast, Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Santiago de Compostela, and Brandeis University. In 2012–13, he served as the Nomura Visiting Professor of International Financial Systems at Harvard Law School. In 2025-26, he was named a senior scholar with the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), the Spanish National Research Council. 

A graduate of Tel Aviv University, where he earned his LL.B. magna cum laude and ranked first in his class, Gross went on to earn his LL.M. and S.J.D. from Harvard Law School as a Fulbright Scholar. His scholarly work has been published extensively in leading journals, including the Yale Law Journal, Michigan Journal of International Law, Cornell Law Review, and Minnesota Law Review. His co-authored book, Law in Times of Crisis: Emergency Powers in Theory and Practice, received the American Society of International Law’s Certificate of Merit for Preeminent Contribution to Creative Scholarship.

Before entering academia, Gross served as a senior legal advisory officer in the Israeli Defense Forces’ Judge Advocate General’s Corps and later advised an Israeli delegation in negotiations with Palestinian Authority officials. He also practiced law at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York and is a member of both the New York and Israeli bars. In 2008, he was elected to the American Law Institute.

Since joining Minnesota Law, Gross has been recognized with numerous honors, including appointments as the Vance K. Opperman Research Scholar, the Julius E. Davis Professor of Law, and the Irving Younger Professor of Law. In 2017, he received the Law School’s Stanley V. Kinyon Tenure-Track Teacher of the Year Award.

Professor Emeritus Robert Stein ’61, a former Everett Fraser Professor of Law and dean, underscored the significance of the appointment. “The Fraser Professorship represents a tradition of innovation and impact at Minnesota Law,” Stein said. “Oren Gross embodies that tradition through his scholarship, his teaching, and his deep engagement with complex questions at the intersection of law, security, and global affairs.”

The Fraser professorship was created by a contribution from James H. Binger ’41 during the Law School’s centennial campaign in honor of Dean Fraser, who served as dean when Binger was a student. It was intended to honor not only Dean Fraser but also future leaders at the Law School. Gross’s appointment continues a lineage of faculty whose work reflects Fraser’s enduring vision: a law school grounded in intellectual rigor, global perspective, and a commitment to public service.