Leland Ware, the inaugural Louis L. Redding Chair for the Study of Law and Public Policy in the Joseph R. Biden, Jr. School of Public Policy and Administration and professor of Africana studies at the University of Delaware, passed away April 26, 2026, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 77.
A noted authority on civil rights and civil liberties law, employment law and constitutional law, Professor Ware served on the Delaware faculty for more than 20 years, organizing a number of academic symposia and professional programs, as well as hosting many distinguished lectures.
In a 2023 UDaily article, Professor Ware said, “It’s a very significant honor to occupy the [Redding Chair]. Louis Redding was a great man and a civil rights pioneer who argued two cases that were behind the Brown v. Board of Education decision.” He said he hoped his body of work would speak for itself to advance racial equity and further discourse in civil rights law. “I would like to be remembered as a civil rights teacher and scholar, and for all the writing and publications I’ve engaged in over the years,” he added.
Professor Ware was the author of more than 100 articles in academic journals and other publications on various aspects of civil rights law. He also authored A Century of Segregation: Race, Class, and Disadvantage, which examines how race, class and spatial...
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