In furtherance of the theme for this year’s Annual Meeting, “Courage in Action,” AALS President Melanie Wilson will engage women leaders from the legal academy and the legal profession in a conversation about how they summoned the courage necessary to pave a path for future generations of exceptional women professors, deans, and advocates. The panel discussion will celebrate past successes, explore current and former challenges, and consider how the future for women law students, legal academics, and lawyers will continue to benefit from the courage of the pioneers in our profession.
Panelists include Toni Massaro, who served as dean of the University of Arizona College of Law from 1999-2009, the first woman to serve in that leadership role, and among the very few women deans at that time in the United States. In 1998 only fourteen women deans led ABA accredited law schools. Elizabeth B. Prelogar is the 48th Solicitor General of the United States and responsible for coordinating and overseeing all Supreme Court litigation on behalf of the US. She is the second woman to serve in the position. Rebecca Hanner White served as dean of the University of Georgia law school from 2003 to 2015. Previously, she served as associate provost and associate vice president of academic affairs for UGA.