POUND, ROSCOE

born Oct. 27, 1870, Lincoln, Neb., U.S.

died July 1, 1964, Cambridge, Mass.

U.S. legal educator and botanist.

After studying botany at the University of Nebraska and law at Harvard University (1889–90), he was admitted to the Nebraska bar, and he practiced law while also teaching at the state university (1890–1903). At the University of Nebraska he directed the state botanical survey (1892–1903) and discovered a rare fungus ( Roscopoundia ). He later taught at several law schools, most notably Harvard (1910–37), where he also served as dean (1916–36), instituting many reforms. He was perhaps the chief U.S. advocate of sociological jurisprudence, which holds that statutes and court decisions are affected by social conditions; his ideas apparently influenced the New Deal programs of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt . After World War II he helped reorganize the judicial system of Taiwan.

Roscoe Pound.

By courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.