History of the Center

             The Jaeckle Center was established in 1980 with a generous gift from Edwin and Erma Jaeckle.  Known originally as the Edwin F. Jaeckle Center for State and Local Government, its original primary missions were “(1) to improve the quality of legal services rendered by public and private practitioners in dealing with local government problems; and (2) to stimulate and sponsor research for developing long-range solutions to those problems.”  Under the directorship of former deans Wade Newhouse and Tom Headrick and professors Frank Munger and Bob Reis, the Center operated a curricular concentration in State and Local Government Law, mounted conferences, workshops, and seminars for practicing attorneys and government officials; provided research assistance to the Erie County Charter Revision Commission and the Erie County Department of Environment and Planning; and provided consulting expertise to the City of Buffalo. 

            In 1993, the Center broadened its research and curricular focus to create the Government Law Program, a more inclusive program dedicated to studying, and training students for the practice of, all aspects of government law.  During this phase, the Center, then known as the Jaeckle Center for Government Law, issued certificates to students who completed requirements not only in state and local government law, but also in environmental law, education law, taxation, and other subject areas.

            In response to changing conditions in the university, the law school, and in the practice of state and local government law itself, the Center in 2005 once more restructured itself to assume its current form.