Cynthia Nance, dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law, will receive Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of American Law Schools.
“This award is richly deserved,” said Lisa Mazzie, chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Women in Legal Education and professor of legal writing at Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee. “The purpose of the award is to honor an individual who has had a distinguished career of teaching, service and scholarship for at least 20 years. The recipient is someone who has impacted women, the legal community, the academy and the issues that affect women through mentoring, writing, speaking, activism, and by providing opportunities for others.”
“It was an amazing surprise and a terrific honor,” said Professor Nance when notified of her selection. “I’m still in shock, honestly.”
Nance, the Nathan G. Gordon Professor of Law at the school, is serving as dean of the school for a second time. She joined the faculty in 1994 and served as dean from 2006 to 2011. She was the first woman and the first person of color to serve as dean in the school’s then-82-year history. In July 2022, she was named dean for the second time. Her teaching and scholarship focus on labor and employment law, workplace legislation, and poverty law.
A graduate of Chicago State University, Professor Nance holds a master’s degree in business and a juris doctorate from the University of Iowa.