Donald G. Gifford, JD
Jacob A. France Professor of Torts, University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law
Donald Gifford joined the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in 1992, when he was named dean and professor. He served as dean through 1999, initiating the efforts to build the current law school building, obtaining the legislative approval and funding for the building, and raising most of the private contributions for its construction.
Professor Gifford’s teaching and research interests include torts, product liability, advanced torts, and legal negotiation. He is the author or co-author of five books, including a torts casebook and a legal negotiation text, and numerous articles about topics such as mass torts, product liability, technological change and tort law, how race affects the substantive law of torts, and medical malpractice.
Along with colleagues, Gifford prepares semiannual updates to “Harper, James, and Gray on Torts,” the definitive five-volume torts treatise. Gifford’s book, “Suing the Tobacco and Lead Pigment Industries,” features a critical analysis of government tort litigation against manufacturers of products that cause public health problems such as cigarettes and lead pigment.
He also served as chair of the Maryland Lead Paint Poisoning Commission from 1992 to 1995 and, in that role, was a principal architect of Maryland’s Lead Poisoning Prevention Act. Later, Gifford promoted legislation designed to eliminate or reduce childhood lead poisoning in 10 other states and in the U.S. Congress.
He is a member of the American Law Institute and served as co-chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Deans’ Workshops in 1995 and 1996 and co-chair of the ABA Law School Development Conference in 2001.
An Ohio native, Gifford earned his bachelor’s degree in liberal arts/history from the College of Wooster, where he was valedictorian, and received his JD from Harvard Law School.
