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Washington, D.C. (December 12, 2022) — Maryam Ahranjani, Ronald and Susan Friedman Professor at University of New Mexico School of Law and Jamelia N. Morgan, Professor and Director, Center for Racial and Disability Justice at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law have been awarded the Deborah L. Rhode Award, a joint recognition by four sections of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS).
“I am extremely grateful to receive this award,” Ahranjani said. “Professor Rhode left huge footprints in so many spaces and inspired so many of us. I hope to continue her legacy by advocating for new ways to think about issues of public importance.”
“It is a tremendous honor to receive the Deborah Rhode Award,” Morgan said. “Professor Rhode was a giant in the legal field and her groundbreaking work inspires me as a legal scholar to use my scholarship to push for justice for groups long-marginalized by law.”
The annual award serves as a memorial to Deborah L. Rhode, who died in January 2021 after an illustrious career in law. She was the Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law and director of the Center on the Legal Profession at Stanford Law School. Rhode served as president of the Association of American Law Schools in 1998; was founding president of the International Association of Legal Ethics in 2010; and was the author of 30 books in the areas of leadership, professional responsibility, and gender law and public policy.
Deborah L. Rhode Award is presented by the AALS Sections on Leadership, Pro Bono & Service Opportunities, Professional Responsibility, and Women in Legal Education. It is awarded annually to the law professor or lawyer who exemplifies the groundbreaking work, imagination, and inspired action of Deborah Rhode. This is the second year that the award is presented by the four sections.
“Professors Ahranjani and Morgan are trailblazers who exemplify Professor Rhode’s commitment to legal education and the legal profession.” said Elysa Dishman, chair of the award selection committee and Associate Professor at Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School. “The Selection Committee received many compelling nominations in support of an array of legal educators who carry on Professor Rhode’s legacy. It is a tribute to Professor Rhode that there were many deserving nominees who follow in her footsteps. This year, the Selection Committee was unanimous in choosing Professors Ahranjani and Morgan for the award and believe they will continue to build upon Deborah Rhode’s work in new and exciting ways to benefit the legal academy and profession.”
The selection committee for the award also included:
The award will be presented in-person at an awards ceremony at the AALS Annual Meeting in San Diego, California on January 5, 2023.
About AALS
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), founded in 1900, is a nonprofit association of 176 member and 19 fee-paid law schools. Its members enroll most of the nation’s law students and produce the majority of the country’s lawyers and judges, as well as many of its lawmakers. The mission of AALS is to uphold and advance excellence in legal education. In support of this mission, AALS promotes the core values of excellence in teaching and scholarship, academic freedom, and diversity, including diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints, while seeking to improve the legal profession, to foster justice, and to serve our many communities–local, national and international.
