1st Law Professor on Supreme Court

[William Funk]

Wow! This listserv is great!  Thanks to Ryan Black, a Ph.D. student at
Washington U at St. Louis; he identified a data base that people on this
list should know about:
http://epstein.law.northwestern.edu/research/justicesdata.html

This has more data on Supreme Court justices (and persons nominated but not
confirmed) than one could ever imagine.  Mother's maiden name, military
record, religion, bar admission, and much more, including when and where
they were law professors (or other academic rank).  
So, by my criterion, the first law professor or dean elevated directly from
academia to the Supreme Court appears to be: (drum roll) William Howard
Taft, who was a law professor at Yale after leaving the Presidency and until
his appointment to the Supreme Court.  
Bill Funk
Lewis & Clark Law School