The AALS Nominating Committee for 2022 Officers and Members of the Executive Committee met in September to consider nominations from faculty members and deans at AALS member schools. The Committee received a number of nominations for the positions to be filled. The individuals we recommend are not only accomplished teacher-scholars, each has also been a highly capable volunteer for the AALS.
The House of Representatives will vote on the following nominees at the Meeting of the House of Representatives at the AALS Annual Meeting to be held virtually on Saturday, January 8, 2022:
Mark Alexander is the Arthur J. Kania Dean and Professor of Law at the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Dean Alexander received a BA in Architecture and his JD from Yale University. His areas of expertise include constitutional law, election law, the First Amendment, and criminal procedure. Dean Alexander’s interests in research include the constitutional dimensions of election law and campaign reform.
Previously, he served as Associate Dean for Academics and a Professor of Law at Seton Hall University School of Law, where he was awarded Professor of the Year three times.
Dean Alexander has authored several books on the First Amendment and constitutional law. He has also been published in leading journals such as Stanford Law & Policy Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and NYU Review of Law & Social Change. Dean Alexander has made multiple appearances on national television broadcasts, and is regularly interviewed by national print and broadcast media. He is a highly regarded speaker and panelist for national and international law symposiums and academic forums.
In addition to his academic leadership, Dean Alexander has served as an issues director and advisor for several high-profile political campaigns. In 2012, he was a candidate for the 34th Legislative District of the New Jersey State Senate. He also possesses experience abroad, having spent a year in Spain on a Fulbright Scholarship teaching American law and politics as well as teaching in the Seton Hall Law-in-Italy program. Following this, he was appointed by President Barack Obama and served on the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board from 2010-2014. He is also a fellow of the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program.
Alexander is a familiar face to AALS, having previously served on the Executive Committee from 2018-2020. He was also a part of the committee on Audit and Association Investment Policy and a member of the Deans’ Steering Committee.
Eloisa C. Rodriguez-Dod is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at Florida International University College of Law. Prior to joining FIU College of Law in 2012, she was a Professor of Law at Nova Southeastern University College of Law, where she also held the position as the Academic Director of its University of Barcelona dual-degree program.
Dean Rodriguez-Dod has received multiple awards for her teaching. She has been awarded “Professor of the Year” at both law schools, in 2008 at NSU College of Law, and in 2015, 2016, and 2017 at FIU College of Law. She was also the recipient of the university-wide FIU Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2016.
Dean Rodriguez-Dod received a BBA from the University of Miami in International Marketing and Finance, graduating magna cum laude, and an MBA from Florida International University. She received her JD from the University of Miami Law School, where she graduated cum laude and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. Before joining academia, Dean Rodriguez-Dod practiced law at White & Case.
Dean Rodriguez-Dod specializes in property law, real estate transactions, trusts and estates, and elder law. She has authored and edited several books, book chapters, monographs, and law review articles. She is often invited to speak at legal conferences and panels.
Dean Rodriguez-Dod has previously served as the 2014 Chair of the AALS Section on Minority Groups, leading the Section’s activities, and served on the Section’s Executive Committee from 2011 to 2015. Dean Rodriguez-Dod also was a speaker at the 2021 Annual Meeting for the AALS Workshop for Pretenured Law School Teachers of Color. Dean Rodriguez-Dod has a strong commitment to other national legal organizations as well, serving on the Audit Committee of the Law School Admissions Council and on American Bar Association site evaluation teams.
Kevin Washburn is the N. William Hines Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Iowa College of Law. Previously, Dean Washburn was a Regents Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law, where he served as Dean from 2009-2012.
Dean Washburn received a BA in Economics from the University of Oklahoma and a JD from Yale Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Yale Journal on Regulation.
After law school, Washburn clerked for Judge William C. Canby of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and then joined the U.S. Department of Justice (1994-2000). He also served as general counsel of the National Indian Gaming Commission (2000-2002). He joined the University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis as an Associate Professor in 2002, serving as the Oneida Indian Nation Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School from 2007-2008. From 2008-2009, Dean Washburn was the Rosenstiel Professor of Law at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law in Tucson, leaving to become dean at New Mexico.
In 2012, Dean Washburn was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of Interior, a position he held until 2016. Washburn is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma. In 2017, he was inducted into the Chickasaw Hall of Fame for his contributions to Indian Law.
Dean Washburn has published casebooks in the law of gaming and gambling and federal Indian law and taught many law school subjects. Through his writings, Congressional testimony, and teaching, Dean Washburn has influenced federal public policy on criminal justice in Indian County and Indian gaming.
Previously, Dean Washburn was a speaker at the 2011 Workshop for New Law School Teachers, Workshop for Pretenured People of Color Law School Teachers, and Workshop for Beginning Legal Writing Law School Teachers. He has also spoken and appeared on panels at the 2019 and 2021 Annual Meetings. He has served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Law School Admission Council.
