Walter Taylor Reveley III (born January 6, 1943)[1] is an American legal scholar and former lawyer. He served as the twenty-seventh president of the College of William & Mary.[2] Formerly Dean of its law school from August 1998 to February 2008, Reveley was appointed interim president of William & Mary on February 12, 2008, following Gene Nichol's resignation earlier that day,[3] and was elected the university's 27th president by the Board of Visitors on September 5, 2008.[4] While president, Reveley continued his service as the John Stewart Bryan Professor of Jurisprudence at the law school.[2]
Reveley's areas of academic specialty include the constitutional division of authority between the President and Congress over the use of American armed force abroad, administrative and energy law, and the role of the citizen lawyer.[2] He is the author of the 1981 book War Powers of the President and Congress: Who Holds the Arrows and the Olive Branch?. He co-directed the National War Powers Commission in 2007–09.[5][6]
Before joining William and Mary, Reveley practiced law for almost three decades at Hunton & Williams, specializing in energy and environmental matters, especially regarding commercial nuclear power. He was the managing partner of the firm for nine years during a time of significant growth in its national and international reach.[9]
Reveley retired as William & Mary's president on June 30, 2018. He was succeeded by Katherine Rowe, the first woman to lead William & Mary since its founding in 1693.[11]
