Robert W. Foster

Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Law

Office 212; Phone 803-777-2473

Profile

LL.M., Duke University, 1951
LL.B., University of South Carolina, 1950
B.S., United States Merchant Marine Academy, 1948.

Professor Foster earned a B.S. from the United States Merchant Marine Academy in 1948. He earned an LL.B. from the University of South Carolina in 1950, serving as Associate Editor-in-Chief of the South Carolina Law Quarterly. He earned his LL.M. from Duke University in 1951. He was admitted to practice law in South Carolina in 1950.

He taught as an Assistant Professor of Law to full Professor of Law at the University of Louisville School of Law from 1951 to 1962. He was a Ford Foundation Fellow at Yale University from 1959 to 1960; taught at the School of Naval Justice from 1952-1954; was a Lecturer in Economics at University of Louisville from 1956 to 1962; and was a Lecturer at the Carver School of Social Works from 1956 to 1962.

In 1962, the University of South Carolina School of Law hired Professor Foster as a full Professor of Law. He served as Dean of the Law School from 1970 to 1976. During Dean Foster’s tenure, the current University of South Carolina Law Center was built. The new building that opened in 1974 was a giant step forward for the Law School’s facilities.

Dean Foster resigned in 1976 and returned to teaching, as a full Professor at the Law School. He also taught at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies at the University of London from 1976 to 1977 and was Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the New York Law School from 1977 to 1978. In 1991, the University of South Carolina School of Law honored him with the title of Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Law.

Professor Foster has special interests in Commercial Law and Collective Bargaining and is a highly respected commercial and labor arbitrator. He has been a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators and the National Labor Panel of the American Arbitrators’ Association. He served as a Reporter for the South Carolina Uniform Commercial Code Legislative Committee from 1962 to 1964 and as a reporter for the South Carolina Judicial Council Committee to Study the Uniform Consumer Credit Code from 1969 to 1971. He has been a member of the Advisory Commission on Bankruptcy of the Judicial Conference of the United States since 1978.