Ken Gormley is the 13th president of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, where he previously served as professor of law before being named dean of the Duquesne University School of Law. He joined the faculty in 1994 following a career teaching at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law; working in private practice at the firm of Cindrich & Titus; and clerking for U.S. District Judge Donald E. Ziegler and Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Ralph J. Cappy.
Gormley earned his B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, summa cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1980, serving as a teaching assistant in constitutional law to Professor Archibald Cox, the special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal.
Gormley’s work has earned him a reputation as a highly-respected constitutional scholar. His books, which include Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation, The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr, American Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History, and The Heiress of Pittsburgh, have won multiple awards.
A past president of the Allegheny County Bar Association, he was the first academic to hold that position in the organization’s history.
He and his wife, Laura, have four children and live in Forest Hills, Pa., where he served as mayor from 1998-2001.
At the Summit
The catalytic power of this Summit in bringing together those who are devoting their lives to pushing back and working to confront, understand and work towards solutions around hate in our society is a noble and difficult task. The Summit not only energized those who attended but led to connecting the dots in a global network of those doing this work. The stories of the victims of hate were painful to witness but their courage in coming forward was inspirational. Those who attended left energized with the hope that by working together solutions can be forged.
