Alfred Peláez

Professor Emeritus Alfred S. Peláez served on the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University faculty for 50 years. He first joined the faculty in 1966 and taught Contracts, Federal Courts and the Federal System, Admiralty, and Chinese Law and the Chinese Legal System, among other courses. During his career at Duquesne, he served as a distinguished visiting professor at China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing and as director of the joint Duquesne University-China University Summer Legal Study Program in Beijing—a program he co-founded—which attracted lawyers and law students from throughout the world.

In 2009, the University dedicated The Bridget and Alfred Peláez Legal Writing Center at the Law School, named for Peláez and his late wife, recognizing the professor’s impact on the school and the thousands of students he taught. In 2012, Peláez and a small group of  faculty received the highest rating for ethical standards and professional ability based on peer review evaluations from Martindale-Hubbell, one of the nation’s leading legal publishers and reference companies.

Peláez earned an LL.M. degree from Yale Law School in 1966, after serving as a Sterling Fellow. He received his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1960 and his B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1957. Peláez was a member of the bars of the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

Professor Emeritus Peláez passed away at age 81 on Nov. 27, 2016.

• LL.M., Yale Law School
• J.D., University of Pittsburgh
• B.A., University of Pittsburgh