Landis, James (McCauley) (1899–1964)

Japanese-born US legal scholar. He served as an adviser to three US presidents and as a professor (1926–33), then dean (1937–46), at Harvard Law School. He was appointed to the Securities and Exchange Commission by President Franklin D Roosevelt (1933–37), he chaired the Civil Aeronautics Board under President Harry Truman (1946–47), and he acted as a special assistant to President John F Kennedy. His untimely death by drowning occurred during a one-year suspension from practising law for non-payment of his federal income taxes. Landis was born in Tokyo, Japan, to American missionary parents.