In a happy coincidence, Assistant Professor Daniel Rauch was assigned to the former office of Professor Emeritus Oscar S. Gray when he joined the faculty at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. Working at the same desk as the legendary torts scholar is fitting because Rauch teaches and writes about tort law. But now it’s extra special because Rauch was recently named the inaugural Oscar S. Gray Teaching Fellow in recognition of both his existing talent and his exceptional potential.
“The decision to name you the Gray Teaching Fellow was an easy one, but not one made lightly,” wrote Dean Renée Hutchins Laurent in a letter informing Rauch of the honor. “I have no doubt we will see many remarkable things from you in the years to come.”
Oscar S. Gray, the Jacob A. France Professor Emeritus of Torts, was one of the nation’s preeminent torts scholars for more than 40 years. He published the second and third editions of the definitive six-volume treatise on tort law, Harper, James and Gray on Torts. He also was a co-editor of the influential torts casebook, Cases and Materials on Torts, along with Harry Shulman, Fleming James, Jr., and Maryland Carey Law Professor Don Gifford.
Upon Gray’s death in 2019, his spouse of more than 50 years, Dr. Sheila Hafter Gray, established an endowment in his honor. The fund created the faculty teaching fellowship and a student research fellowship, the first of which was awarded in 2024 to Christina Melehy '26, who worked under Gifford, and Corinne Noonan '26, who worked under Professor Maneka Sinha. Before she passed away in 2021, Dr. Gray added to the endowment through a planned gift.
Rauch was deeply honored to be selected as the inaugural Oscar S. Gray Teaching Fellow. “Oscar Gray was a giant in the field of torts,” he said. “To be connected with his legacy is humbling.”
As well as his scholarship, Gray was known for his commitment to students, whom he frequently mentored both in his classes and as his research assistants. The spirit behind the fellowship is to recognize talent and dedication both in scholarship and teaching in the core doctrinal curriculum. Rauch’s students agree that their Torts professor goes above and beyond in the classroom just as Gray did.
One student wrote in a faculty evaluation form that Rauch was “the best professor I’ve ever had.” Another noted, “You can tell he's VERY passionate about teaching and the success of his students.”
For his part, Rauch modestly credits his success as a teacher to the exceptional quality of Maryland Carey Law’s students. “If my class is an excellent experience for students,” he said, “it is because of them.”
As well as Torts, Rauch teaches courses on the First Amendment and on Information Privacy Law. His research focuses on the First Amendment, and on how to understand free speech in our modern digital democracy. Rauch’s current project looks at the most appropriate remedies to redress First Amendment violations.
Prior to joining Maryland Carey Law, Rauch served as a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. He also was a law clerk to Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and to then-Judge Neil Gorsuch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.
Rauch holds an AB from Princeton University and a JD from Yale Law School, where, in another happy coincidence, Gray also earned his JD in 1951. Before law school, Rauch taught middle school English in Newark, New Jersey, through the Teach for America national service program.