Kenneth Gerald Gormley was born in
Pittsburgh on March 19, 1955, and grew up in the nearby suburbs of
Swissvale and
Edgewood. Gormley joined the
Duquesne Law faculty in 1994 after clerking for U.S. District Judge
Donald E. Ziegler, teaching at the
University of Pittsburgh School of Law, engaging in private practice, serving as Executive Director of the
Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission, and serving as special clerk to Justice
Ralph J. Cappy of the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Gormley was named dean of the law school in December 2008. He has written articles for publications ranging from
Rolling Stone to the
ABA Journal and is author of the book
Archibald Cox: The Conscience of a Nation. An expert on the constitutional crisis presented by
Watergate, he has also published legal commentary on
privacy issues. In 2006, he testified before the
U.S. Senate regarding warrantless surveillance. His most recent book,
The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr, was released on February 16, 2010. Gormley was nominated by Pennsylvania Governor
Tom Wolf to one of two vacancies on the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court in February 2015. The
Pennsylvania State Senate opted not to fill the vacancies, instead allowing the seats to be filled in the November election. On November 4, 2015, Duquesne University announced that Gormley would be the 13th President of Duquesne University, following the retirement of
Charles J. Dougherty, effective July 1, 2016. In October 2021, Gormley published his first novel, a legal thriller entitled
The Heiress of Pittsburgh. He has described the novel as a "love story to Pittsburgh". In March 2025, Gormley announced that on July 1, 2026, he would step down from his presidency and assume the role of university chancellor. ==References==