Award Winners & Ceremony - Annual Meeting

Award Winners & Ceremony

The AALS Annual Meeting is our opportunity to come together across disciplines, roles, and schools to celebrate the best and brightest members of our community. The annual AALS Awards Ceremony honors our colleagues and recognizes excellence in legal education.

AALS Awards Ceremony

Thursday, January 9 | 12:50 – 2:20 pm
Moscone Center Esplanade Ballroom 154 & 156

See below for a list of AALS Section award winners to find out who among your colleagues will be honored.

AALS Triennial Award for Lifetime Service to Legal Education and to the Law  

The Triennial Award for Lifetime Service to Legal Education and to the Law is presented every three years to recognize career-long contributions by a faculty member at an AALS member law school.   

Winner: Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., Harvard Law School (posthumously)   

Michael A. Olivas Award for Outstanding Leadership in Diversity and Mentoring in the Legal Academy 

This annual award serves as a memorial to Michael A. Olivas, who died in April 2022 after an illustrious career in law. The recipient is the faculty member who most vividly exemplifies Olivas’s devotion to mentoring junior and aspiring faculty from underrepresented communities and promoting diversity, inclusion, and equity in the legal academy. 

Winner: Guy-Uriel E. Charles, Harvard Law School 

Deborah L. Rhode Award  

This award honors the contributions, service, and leadership of Deborah Rhode by recognizing a new trailblazer in legal education and the legal profession. The recipient is an individual who has great potential to make a mark on legal education and the legal profession, who exemplifies Deborah’s groundbreaking career, imagination, and inspired action as evidenced by work that brings a novel perspective or call for action in legal education or the legal profession. 

Winners: Camille A. Nelson, University of Hawaii, William S. Richardson School of Law
Jessica Steinberg, The George Washington University Law School 

Section of the Year 

The annual Section of the Year Award recognizes Sections going above and beyond in member engagement and promotion of AALS core values.

Winner: Section on Poverty Law. Award accepted by Verónica C. Gonzales, University of New Mexico School of Law, and Mira Edmonds, The University of Michigan Law School

AALS Scholarly Papers Competition 

The annual Scholarly Papers Competition encourages and recognizes excellent legal scholarship from full-time law teachers with five years of experience or less.

Winners: Christopher Brett Jaeger, Baylor University School of Law and Christopher D. Hampson, University of Florida Levin College of Law        

Also honored during the ceremony:

  • Section chairs
  • Section award winners
  • Pro bono honor roll
  • Teachers of the Year

Section Awards by School

American University, Washington College of Law

Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law

Boston University School of Law

Brooklyn Law School

Capital University Law School

  • Jennifer Wondracek, Section on Technology, Law and Legal Education
    Section Award

Cornell Law School

Creighton University School of Law

Emory University School of Law

Florida International University College of Law

  • Rosario Lozada, Section on Balance & Well-Being in Legal Education
    Annual Award

Florida State University College of Law

Fordham University School of Law

The George Washington University Law School

Gonzaga University School of Law

Harvard Law School

Lewis and Clark Law School

Loyola Law School, Los Angeles

Loyola University Chicago School of Law

McGeorge School of Law

New York University School of Law

Northeastern University Law School

  • Mehrsa Baradaran, Section on Race and Private Law
    Patricia J. Williams Award

Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law

Notre Dame Law School

Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law

Ohio University

The Ohio State University, Michael E. Moritz College of Law

Oklahoma City University School of Law

  • Steven Foster, Section on Academic Support
    Impact Award

Penn State Dickinson Law

  • Rebecca Schreiber, Section on Pre-Law Education & Admission to Law School
    Financial Aid Change-Maker Award

Penn State Law

Pepperdine University School of Law

Rutgers Law School

Saint Louis University School of Law

Southern University Law Center

Southern Methodist University, Dedman School of Law

Southwestern Law School

Stanford Law School

Stetson University College of Law

  • Candace Zierdt, Section on Commercial and Consumer Law
    Mentorship Award

Temple University, James E. Beasley School of Law

  • Edith Beerdsen, Section on Civil Procedure
    Honorable Mention: Junior Scholarship Award
  • Jonathan Lipson, Section on Litigation
    Leading Scholar Award

Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law

  • Ronda Harrison, Section on Academic Support
    Legacy in Leadership Award

The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law

University at Buffalo School of Law, The State University of New York

  • John Giammatteo, Section on Federal Courts
    Best Untenured Article Award
  • John Giammatteo, Section on Civil Procedure
    Honorable Mention: Junior Scholarship Award

University of California College of the Law, San Francisco

  • Ascanio Piomelli, Section on Clinical Legal Education
    Stephen Ellmann Memorial Clinical Scholarship Award

University of California, Irvine School of Law

University of California, Los Angeles School of Law

University of Colorado Law School

University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law

University of Illinois College of Law

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

  • Tiffany Yang, Section on Civil Procedure
    Honorable Mention: Junior Scholarship Award

University of Minnesota Law School

University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law

University of North Carolina School of Law

  • Melissa Jacoby, Section on Commercial and Consumer Law
    Scholarship Award

The University of Pennsylvania Law School

The University of Tulsa College of Law

  • April Fox, Section on Pre-Law Education and Admission to Law School
    Unsung Hero Award

University of Wisconsin Law School

  • Lisa Washington, Section on Family and Juvenile Law
    Emerging Scholar Award

Vanderbilt University Law School

Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law

  • Emily Stolzenberg, Section on Family and Juvenile Law
    Emerging Scholar Award

Wake Forest University School of Law

Washburn University School of Law

  • Priscilla Samarripa, Section on Pre-Law Education and Admission to Law School
    Up-and-Comer Award

Washington University in St. Louis School of Law

Washington and Lee University School of Law

Western New England University School of Law

Widener University Commonwealth Law School

  • Juliet Moringiello, Section on Commercial and Consumer Law
    Mentorship Award