Professor Roy M. Mersky, a member of The University of Texas law school faculty and the director of its law library since 1965, holds the Harry M. Reasoner Regents Chair in Law and the Hyder Centennial Faculty Fellowship in Law. He is also a professor in the University's graduate School of Information where he teaches courses and is involved in the development of the legal information/law librarianship program.
Professor Mersky received his B.S. in 1948, a J.D. in 1952, and a Master's degree in Library Science in 1953 from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
He has been a visiting professor at Queen Mary and Westfield College in London and the New York Law School, a consultant to the University of Melbourne Law School, and a Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra.
Professor Mersky is widely published, particularly in the areas of legal research, language and law, and the history of the U.S. Supreme Court. He is co-author of Fundamentals of Legal Research, now in its 8th edition, the recognized authority on legal research and the standard textbook used in first year legal research courses across the United States. He recently completed The First 108 Justices (W.S. Hein & Co., 2004) which examines and evaluates the character, intellect, and statesmanship of current and former U.S. Supreme Court Justices. He also co-edits a multi-volume series, The Supreme Court of the United States: Hearings and Reports on Successful and Unsuccessful Nominations by the Senate Judicial Committee, and collaborates on the Documentary History of the Legal Aspects of Abortion in the United States, with the most recent volume in that series published in 2003.
Professor Mersky is a pioneer in law librarianship. Under his leadership the Jamail Center for Legal Research has become one of the most important legal research institutes in the United States. He is known for his innovative approaches to library management and services and his strong commitment to improving library resources, services, and facilities. In 1971, he served as the Interim Director of the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem. He has served on committees and is a member of the Texas Library Association, the American Library Association, the American Association of Law Libraries, and the Special Library Association. Professor Mersky routinely serves as a consultant to many academic institutions and law firms, as well as private corporations seeking to establish or organize collections of law related material.
Professor Mersky has also made significant contributions to the field of law. Committed to the cause of human rights, he has been active in the ABA Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, the National Bar Association, and the Native American Bar Association. He was president of the Austin Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and president-elect of the Human Rights Documentation Exchange in Texas. He contributes to a variety of legal organizations, holding positions of responsibility on committees of the American Bar Association, the Association of American Law Schools, and the State Bar of Texas. Professor Mersky is also a member of the ABA Gavel Awards Screening Committee; a member of the Editorial Board of Experience, the magazine for the ABA Seniors Lawyers Division; and a member of the Technology Committee that is part of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. He is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, the American Law Institute and the College of Law Practice Management.
Professor Mersky is a member of the State Bars of Wisconsin, Texas, and New York, and has been admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Criminal Appeals for the 5th Circuit, the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the U.S. Court of Military Appeals. He is a member of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists.
Active in both state and civic organizations, Professor Mersky is a board member and past president of the Texas Humanities Alliance, as well as a board member of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society and a past board member of the Texas Book Festival. He is on the Austin Council for Foreign Affairs' Board of Directors, and was elected to membership to the Philosophical Society of Texas in December 2006.
Roy M. Mersky
Harry M. Reasoner Regents Chair in Law and Director of Research
Jamail Center for Legal Research
Tarlton Law Library
The University of Texas at Austin
School of Law
727 E. Dean Keeton St.
Austin, TX 78705-3224
512-471-7735, FAX 512-471-8398