The J.Y. Sanders Professorship of Law was established by the LSU Board of Supervisors in 1991. Mary Elizabeth Sanders, daughter of the late J.Y. Sanders, Jr., funded this professorship in recognition of her father for his distinguished career in all phases of law and public service. Sanders served in the Louisiana House of Representative, State Senate, and was also a founding partner of the local firm of Sanders, Miller, Downing, Kean and Rubin.