On May 6, ǿմý School of Law held its annual “Celebration of Faculty” to recognize full time and adjunct faculty members who made extraordinary contributions over the past year. This was the first time that the event was held virtually on Zoom.
The online event, which was attended by Provost Ben Vinson and over 50 faculty members, began with a Chairing ceremony for Bryan Adamson (ǿմý Law 1990), recipient of the David and Ann Brennan Professorship. A Chaired Professorship is the highest honor a law school can bestow on one of its faculty. Professor Adamson is returning to our law school as Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion. After practicing in the Litigation Department of Squire Sanders and Dempsey (now Squire Patton Boggs) and as an Assistant Prosecutor for Cuyahoga County, he originally joined the faculty of ǿմý in 1995 in the Milton A. Kramer Law Clinic and served for four years as our Assistant Dean of Student Services. He then left ǿմý to join Seattle University School of Law in 2002 as its Director of Clinical Programs and was promoted to full professor with tenure. A prolific and highly respected scholar, last year Seattle University bestowed on Bryan the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship.
Next, Jessie Hill, the Judge Ben C. Green Professor of Law, was awarded the Faculty Distinguished Research Prize, a cash award that recognizes a professor whose published works during the preceding three years demonstrate extraordinary scholarly achievement based on impact on academic discourse, law and policy. Including articles recently accepted for publication, over this period Professor Hill has published in the Georgetown Law Journal, Washington University Law Review, William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal, University of Colorado Law Review and the Lewis and Clark Law Review. She also published chapters in two books published by Cambridge University Press and one by Oxford University Press. And she has written several briefs for cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and Federal Circuit Courts relating to reproductive rights.
Then, Professor Avidan Cover, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, was awarded the Faculty Distinguished Service Prize, a cash award that recognizes professors whose service during the preceding two years demonstrates extraordinary dedication to the law school. Associate Dean Cover oversaw the law school’s rapid transformation of teaching from in person to remote delivery due to the coronavirus. He also played a leading role in the formulation and implementation of grading and exam policies to deal with these extraordinary circumstances, all while preparing the curriculum and course registration for 2020-21.
Later, Adjunct Professor Stephen Anway was awarded the Judge Richard M. Markus Adjunct Professor of the Year Award, which recognizes an exceptional adjunct professor based on professional achievement, teaching and service. Professor Anway, who has been teaching International Arbitration at the Law School for nearly a decade, is the global co-chair of Squire Patton Boggs’ International Dispute Resolution Practice. In that role, he leads a team of more than 140 lawyers across 25 offices in North America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He regularly recruits his former ǿմý students such as Kristina Moore, Douglas Pilawa, and Teresa Azzam to join Squire Patton Boggs and work with him on cases before international tribunals around the world. In addition, last year Professor Anway developed and now serves as lead editor of the international arbitration equivalent of the Blue Book, known as the “Universal Citation in International Arbitration.”
Next, the Deans announced that Sharona Hoffman, the Edgar A. Hahn Professor of Jurisprudence and Co-Director of the Law-Medicine Center, had been selected by the University to receive the 2020 Jessica Melton Perry Award. This award recognizes outstanding commitment to and success in teaching disciplinary/professional writing to ǿմý students. Under Professor Hoffman’s mentorship, several law students have published papers in professional journals and have annually won prestigious national writing prizes in the area of health law.
Finally, the 2020 student-selected Teacher of the Year Award winners were announced. The 1L Teacher of the Year is Professor Juliet Kostritsky. The Student Bar Association Teacher of the Year is Professor Michael Benza. And the LLM Teacher of the Year is Professor Jack Turner.
Congratulations to these outstanding scholars and teachers!