Conversations with Professor Leonard Sedgwick Sealy

Abstract

Professor Sealy first came to Cambridge from New Zealand to undertake his Ph.D shortly after WWII, and after a brief return home in 1958, he came to stay in 1959. Since then, and initially encouraged by the late (then) Mr Bill Wedderburn, Professor Sealy has assiduously established the laws of commerce as an integral intellectual and practical component of the Faculty’s repertoire. His contribution was recognized in 1991 when he became the inaugural S J Berwin Professor of Corporate Law. The interview covers his boyhood in wartime New Zealand, the tribulations of the physically disjointed Faculty of the 70s and 80s, as well as aspects of his teaching and research projects. It also includes interesting insights into the Faculty's move into the present Norman Foster building.Between February and April 2013 Professor Sealy was interviewed three times by Lesley Dingle, to record his reminiscences of his career and his long association with the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge. This biography is written with reference to the interviews and further research about Professor Sealy.The Eminent Scholars Archive (ESA) is an expanding archive documenting the careers and achievements of eminent scholars associated with the Squire Law Library and Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge. The archive contains extensive bibliographies, biographies, photographs and recorded interviews with some of the world's most renowned academic and practicing lawyers. The ESA can be found online at the Squire Law Library website.