A professor from Yale Law School was appointed as the first chair professor of a law research institute at Peking University in Beijing on Monday.

Paul Gewirtz, Potter Steward Professor of Constitutional Law at Yale Law School and director of the school's China Center, will serve as the inaugural chair professor of the Peking University-Jones Day Institute for Globalization and Rule of Law.

The institute was established in 2012 by Peking University and Jones Day Foundation, which is funded by donations from attorneys and staff of Jones Day, a global law firm.

Stephen Brogan, managing partner of Jones Day, said the institute seeks to encourage thoughtful discussion among students, faculty and researchers on how the rule of law is critical to realizing the benefits of globalization for the largest numbers of people across the world.

Zhang Shouwen, dean of Peking University Law School, said he believed that with the appointment of the institute's first chair professor, there will be more prestigious scholars worldwide joining the intellectual community of the institute and the school.