I received an email today from the AALS stating:
The Section on Business Associations at the 2016 Annual Meeting will honor 13 professors for their exemplary mentorship: Lynne L. Dallas (San Diego); Claire Moore Dickerson (Tulane); Christopher Drahozal (Kansas); Egon Guttman (American); William A. “Bill” Klein (UCLA); Donald C. Langevoort (Georgetown); Juliet Moringiello (Widener Commonwealth); Marleen O’Connor (Stetson); Terry O’Neill (Emerita, Tulane); Charles “Chuck” O’Kelley (Seattle); Alysa L. Rolack (formerly of Indiana-Bloomington); Roberta Romano (Yale); and Gordon Smith (BYU).
Thank you to all these honorees for your service to legal education through thoughtful, caring, and inspiring mentorship. You have helped others in our field in countless ways.
The criteria for nominations included:
- Is eager to discuss others’ early ideas and contributes to the development and improvement of others’ work;
Promotes and encourages the success of junior scholars by reading and providing meaningful and useful feedback on drafts;
Promotes a supportive but challenging environment for conference presentations;
Speaks frankly, provides useful professional and personal advice when asked;
Actively participates in a network of scholars;
Facilitates professional opportunities for junior scholars such as providing introductions to others in the field, and encouraging participation in the scholarly community through writing and speaking;
Mentors those from underrepresented communities in academics and the study of law;
Actively/willingly participates in the promotion process for others by advising as to tenure reviewers, writing review letters, and providing useful guidance on career advancement.
I was delighted to be among those who nominated my friend, colleague, and coauthor Bill Klein. Bill has been a wonderful mentor to me for two decades. He is a supportive colleague, but also one of those rare people who can--without hurting your feelings--tell it to you straight. He once told me, to cite but a single example, that my first draft of an article was "crap" and "would ruin my career." He was right. So I fixed it and it went on to become one of my most frequently cited works. He taught me everything I know about editing casebooks and has been a constant source of encouragement. I'm proud to know him and to have been one of his proteges.
