Robert W. Hamilton

Born in 1931, Robert W. Hamilton was an American law professor, legal scholar, and author best known for his long career at the University of Texas School of Law. He earned his bachelor's degree from Swarthmore College and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, later serving as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark.

Hamilton joined the Texas law faculty in 1964 and taught there for roughly four decades, eventually holding the Minerva House Drysdale Regents Chair in Law. He became especially well known for teaching contracts and business associations, and for writing books that helped generations of students understand corporate and business law.

Colleagues and former students remembered him as a gifted teacher with a lasting influence on legal education. He died in January 2018, leaving behind a body of work that combined scholarly depth with an unusually accessible style.