2020-2021 
    
    Mar 19, 2024  
2020-2021 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Introduction


 

Academic Calendar

Fall Semester 2020

     
First day of classes August 21
Labor Day holiday September 7
Yom Kippur (University open, no classes) September 28
Thanksgiving holiday November 26-November 29
Monday classes meet (make up day for Yom Kippur) December 1
Thursday classes meet (make up day for Thanksgiving) December 2
Last day of classes December 2
Examinations begin December 8
Examinations end December 19
Winter Break (University closed) December 24-January 4

Spring Semester 2021

First day of classes January 11
Martin Luther King Jr. holiday (university closed; no classes) January 18
Inaguration Day (university closed; no classes) January 20
Spring break March 15-21
Monday classes meet (make-up for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day) April 26
Wednesday classes meet (make-up for Inaguration Day) April 27
Last day of classes April 27
Examinations begin May 4
Examinations end May 15
Spring Commencement May 23

Summer Session 2021

Memorial Day Holiday (University closed) May 31
Classes begin June 1
Monday classes meet (make-up for Memorial Day) July 26
Classes end July 26
Examinations begin July 30
Examinations end August 5

American University

Administration

Sylvia M. Burwell, President
Peter Starr, Acting Provost
Fanta Aw,* Vice President of Campus Life and Inclusive Excellence
Matthew Bennett,* Vice President and Chief Communications Officer
Traevena Byrd, Vice President, General Counsel and Board Secretary
Seth Grossman, Chief of Staff and Counselor to the President
Douglas Kudravetz, Chief Financial Officer, Vice President and Treasurer
Steve Munson, Vice President and Chief Information Officer
Courtney L. Surls, Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations
William Walker, Director, Athletics and Recreation

Incorporation

Established by Act of Congress of the United States,
February 24, 1893

Board of Trustees

Marc N. Duber,* Chair
Gina F. Adams,* Vice Chair
Janice Menke Abraham*
Gary M. Abramson*
Karen J. Baehler
Gaurdie Banister Jr.
Stephanie M. Bennett-Smith
Greg Bergquist
Sylvia M. Burwell
Jack C. Cassell*
Pamela M. Deese*
LaTrelle Easterling
Hani M.S. Farsi*
Thomas A. Gottschalk
Mehdi Heravi*
John Heywood
Benjamin M. Holtzman*
Michael W. Kempner*
Margery Kraus*
Gerald Bruce Lee*
Fernando Lewis Navarro*
Charles H. Lydecker*
Maril Gagen MacDonald
Betsy A. Mangone*
Alan L. Meltzer*
Arthur J. Rothkopf
Peter L. Scher*
Jeffrey A. Sine*
David Trone

* Alumna/alumnus of American University

Washington College of Law

Administration

Acting Dean  Robert Dinerstein
Vice Dean  Susan Carle
Senior Associate Dean for Faculty & Academic Affairs  Amanda Cohen Leiter
Associate Dean of Experiential Education  Jayesh Rathod
Associate Dean for Part Time & Evening Programs  Ezra Rosser
Associate Dean for Scholarship  Jonas Anderson
Associate Dean of Development & Alumni Relations  Laura Herr
Associate Dean of Finance & Administration  Robert Campe
Associate Dean for Student Affairs  David B. Jaffe
Senior Assistant Dean  Ann Chernicoff
Assistant Dean for Adjunct Faculty Affairs  William J. Snape III
Assistant Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid  Akira Shiroma
Assistant Dean of Diversity, Inclusion & Affinity Relations  Lisa Taylor
Assistant Dean for Online Learning  Catherine Schenker

Full-Time Faculty

Padideh Ala’i, BA, University of Oregon; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law, Director, International and Comparative Legal Studies Program, and Director, Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program
Hilary Allen, BA, University of Sydney, Australia; BL (LLB) University of Sydney, Australia; LLM, Georgetown University Law Center. Associate Professor of Law
Jonas Anderson, BS, University of Utah; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law and Associate Dean of Scholarship
Kenneth Anderson, BA, University of California, Los Angeles; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law 
Priya Baskaran, BA, New York University; JD, University of Michigan Law School; L.L.M., Georgetown University Law Center. Assistant Professor of Law and Director, Entrepreneurship Law Clinic
Susan D. Bennett, BA, MA, Yale University; JD, Columbia University. Professor of Law and Director of the Community and Economic Development Clinic
Elizabeth Beske, BA, Princeton University; JD, Columbia University. Assistant Professor of Law
Barlow Burke Jr., AB, Harvard University; LLB, MCP, University of Pennsylvania; LLM, SJD, Yale University. Professor of Law and John S. Myers and Alvina Reckman Myers Scholar
Susan D. Carle, AB, Bryn Mawr College; JD, Yale University. Professor of Law and Vice-Dean
Michael W. Carroll, AB, University of Chicago; JD, Georgetown University. Professor of Law and Co-Director, Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property
Janie Chuang, BA, Yale University; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law
Jennifer Daskal, BA, Brown University; BA, MA, Cambridge University; JD, Harvard University. Associate Professor of Law and Director, Tech, Law, and Security Program
Angela Jordan Davis, BA, Howard University; JD, Harvard University. Distinguished Professor of Law 
Robert D. Dinerstein, AB, Cornell University; JD, Yale University. Professor of Law, Director of the Disability Rights Law Clinic and Acting Dean
N. Jeremi Duru, BA, Brown University; MPP, JD, Harvard University, Professor of Law
Walter A. Effross, AB, Princeton University; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law
Lia Epperson, BA, Harvard University; JD, Stanford University. Professor of Law
Christine Haight Farley, BA, State University of New York, Binghamton; JD, State University of New York, Buffalo; LLM, JSD, Columbia University. Professor of Law and Co-Director, Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson, BA, Williams College; JD, University of Pennsylvania School of Law; LLM, Georgetown University Law Center. Professor of Law
Susan D. Franck,  BA, Macalester College; JD, University of Minnesota; LLM, University of London. Professor of Law
Amanda Frost, BA, JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law and Ann Loeb Bronfman Distinguished Professor of Law and Government​
Robert K. Goldman, BA, University of Pennsylvania; JD, University of Virginia. Professor of Law and Louis C. James Scholar 
Llezlie Green, AB, Dartmouth College; JD, Columbia University. Associate Professor of Law
Claudio M. Grossman, Licenciado en Ciencias Juridicas y Sociales, Universidad de Chile, Santiago; Doctor of Science of Law, University of Amsterdam. Professor of Law, Dean Emeritus, Raymond I. Geraldson Scholar for International and Humanitarian Law
Lewis A. Grossman, BA, PhD, Yale University; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law 
Rebecca Hamilton, BEcon, University of Sydney, Australia; MA, JD, Harvard University. Associate Professor of Law
Heather L. Hughes, BA, University of Chicago; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law and Director, SJD Program
David Hunter, BA, University of Michigan; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law
Cynthia E. Jones, BA, University of Delaware; JD, American University. Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Trial Advocacy Program
Benjamin Leff, BA, Oberlin College; AM, University of Chicago; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law and Director, JD/MBA Dual Degree Program
Amanda Cohen Leiter, BS, MS, Stanford University; MS, University of Washington; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law, Director, Program on Environmental and Energy Law, and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs
James P. May, BA, Carleton College; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law
Binny Miller, BA, Carleton College; JD, University of Chicago. Professor of Law and Co-Director,Criminal Justice Clinic
Fernanda Nicola, BA, University of Turin; PhD, Trento University; LLM, Harvard University. Professor of Law and Director, International Organizations and Development
Diane F. Orentlicher, BA, Yale University; JD, Columbia University. Professor of Law 
Andrew F. Popper, BA, Baldwin Wallace College; JD, DePaul University; LLM, The George Washington University. Professor of Law
Jayesh Rathod, AB, Harvard University; JD, Columbia University. Professor of Law, Director of the Immigrant Justice Clinic, and Associate Dean for Experiential Education
Ira P. Robbins, AB, University of Pennsylvania; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law and Justice, Director of the JD/MS Dual Degree Program in Law and Justice, and Barnard T. Welsh Scholar
Jenny Roberts, BA, Yale University; JD, New York University. Professor of Law and Co-Director, Criminal Justice Clinic
Ezra Rosser, BA, Yale University; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law and Associate Dean, Part-Time and Evening Division
Ann Shalleck, AB, Bryn Mawr College; JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law, Director of the Women and the Law Program, and Carrington Shields Scholar 
Anita Sinha, BA, Barnard College, Columbia University; JD, New York University. Assistant Professor of Law and Director, International Human Rights Law Clinic
Brenda V. Smith, BA, Spelman College; JD, Georgetown University. Professor of Law
David Snyder, BA, Yale University; JD, Tulane University. Professor of Law and Director, Bussiness Law Program 
Robert L. Tsai, BA, University of California, Los Angeles; JD, Yale University. Professor of Law
Brandon M. Weiss, BS, Stanford University; MPP, Harvard Kennedy School of Government; JD, Harvard Law School. Associate Professor of Law
Lindsay F. Wiley, AB, JD, Harvard University; MPH, Johns Hopkins University. Professor of Law and Director, Health Law and Policy Program
Paul R. Williams, AB, University of California-Davis; JD, Stanford University. Rebecca I. Grazier Professor of Law and International Relations and Director of the JD/MA Dual Degree Program

 

Law Library Administration

Khelani Clay, BA, Howard University; JD, American University; MLS, Catholic University of America. Assistant Law Librarian
John Q. Heywood, BS, Northern Arizona University; JD, American University. Associate Law Librarian
Sima Mirkin, BSc, Byelorussian Polytechnic Institute, Minsk, Belarus; MLS, University of Maryland. Associate Law Librarian
Adeen Postar, AB, Washington University; JD, Washington University; MLS, Catholic University of America. Director of Law Library and Professor of Practice of Law
Shannon M. Roddy, BA, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; JD, American University Washington College of Law; MLS, The Catholic University of America. Assistant Law Librarian
William T. Ryan, BA, Boston University; JD, American University; MLS, University of Maryland. Law Librarian
Ripple L. Weistling, BA, Brandeis University; MA, King’s College, London, England; JD, Georgetown University; MLS, The Catholic University of America. Assistant Law Librarian
Wanhong Linda Wen, BA, Hunan Normal University; MS, University of South Carolina. Associate Law Librarian

Emeriti

David E. Aaronson, BA, MA, PhD, The George Washington University; LLB, Harvard University; LLM, Georgetown University. B. J. Tennery Professor of Law Emeritus
Evelyn Abravanel, AB, Case Western Reserve; JD, Case Western Reserve. Professor of Law Emerita
Isaiah Baker, BA, Yale University; MA, DePaul University; MBA, JD, Columbia University; LLM, Harvard University. Associate Professor of Law Emeritus
Jonathan B. Baker, AB, JD, Harvard University; MA, PhD, Stanford University. Research Professor of Law Emeritus
Daniel Bradlow, BA, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa; JD, Northeastern University; LLM, Georgetown University. Professor of Law Emeritus
David Chavkin, BS, Michigan State University; JD University of California at Berkley. Professor of Law Emeritus
John B. Corr, BA, MA, John Carroll University; PhD, Kent State University; JD, Georgetown University. Professor of Law
Egon Guttman, LLB, LLM, University of London. Professor of Law and Levitt Memorial Trust Scholar Emeritus
Peter Jaszi, AB, JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law Emeritus
Billie Jo Kaufman, BS, MS, Indiana University; JD, Nova Southeastern University. Professor of Law Emerita
Patrick E. Kehoe, BCS, Seattle University; JD, MLibr, University of Washington. Law Librarian Emeritus
Nicholas N. Kittrie, MA, LLB, University of Kansas; LLM, SJD, Georgetown University. University Professor Emeritus
Candace S. Kovacic-Fleischer, AB, Wellesley College; JD, Northeastern University. Professor of Law Emerita
Susan J. Lewis, BA, University of California, Los Angeles; JD, Southwestern University; MLibr, University of Washington in Seattle. Law Librarian Emerita
Robert B. Lubic, AB, JD, University of Pittsburgh; MPL, Georgetown University. Professor of Law Emeritus
Elliott S. Milstein,  BA, University of Hartford; JD, University of Connecticut; LLM, Yale University. Professor of Law Emeritus
Anthony C. Morella, AB, Boston University; JD, American University. Professor of Law Emeritus
Teresa Godwin Phelps, BA, MA, PhD, University of Notre Dame; MSL, Yale University. Professor of Law Emerita
Andrew D. Pike, BA, Swarthmore College; JD, University of Pennsylvania. Professor of Law Emeritus
Nancy D. Polikoff, BA, University of Pennsylvania; MA, The George Washington University; JD, Georgetown University. Professor of Law Emerita
Jamin B. Raskin, BA, JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law Emeritus
Herman Schwartz, AB, JD, Harvard University. Professor of Law Emeritus
Michael E. Tigar, BA, JD, University of California, Berkeley. Professor of Law Emeritus
Mary Siegel Trotter, AB, Vassar College; JD, Yale University. Professor of Law Emerita
Robert Vaughn, BA, JD, University of Oklahoma; LLM, Harvard University. Professor of Law Emeritus
Richard J. Wilson, BA, DePauw University; JD, University of Illinois. Professor of Law Emeritus

Special Faculty Appointments

Nancy S. Abramowitz, BS, Cornell University; JD, Georgetown University. Professor of Practice of Law
Michelle Assad, BA, New York University; JD, American University Washington College of Law. Practitioner in Residence
Jonathan B. Baker, AB, Harvard University; JD, Harvard Law School; Ph.D. Stanford University. Research Professor of Law
Margaret Martin Barry, BA, Luther College; JD, University of Minnesota Law School. Re-Entry Clinic Director, Visiting Professor of Law
Paul Figley, BA, Franklin and Marshall College; JD, Southern Methodist University. Associate Director of the Legal Rhetoric Program and Legal Rhetoric Instructor
Sean Flynn, BA, Pitzer College; JD, Harvard University. Associate Director of the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property and Professorial Lecturer in Residence
Margaret E. Johnson, BA, Dartmouth College; JD, Wisconsin Law School. Visiting Professor of Law in Women and the Law Clinic and Family Law
Elizabeth A. Keith, BA, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; JD, George Mason University. Legal Rhetoric Instructor
Kathryn Kleiman, BA, Harvard University; JD, Boston University. Practitioner in Residence
Daniela Kraiem, BA, University of California, Santa Barbara; JD, University of California-Davis. Associate Director of the Women and the Law Program and Practitioner in Residence
Katie Kronick, BA, Claremont McKenna College; JD, LLM, Georgetown University Law Center. Practitioner in Residence
Fernando Laguarda, AB, Harvard University; JD, Georgetown University Law Center. Professorial Lecturer and Director of the Program on Law and Government
Jeffrey S. Lubbers, AB, Cornell University; JD, University of Chicago. Professor of Practice in Administrative Law
Claudia Martin, JD, Universidad de Buenos Aires; LLM, American University. Professorial Lecturer in Residence
Juan E. Mendez, LLB, Stella Maris Catholic University, Argentina. Professor of Human Rights Law in Residence
Jessica Millward, BA, Trinity College; JD, American University; LLM, Georgetown University Law Center. Practitioner in Residence
Horacio A. Grigera Naon, JD, LLD, University of Buenos Aires; LLM, SJD, Harvard University. Distinguished Practitioner in Residence
Victoria Phillips, BA, Smith College; JD, American University. Professor of Practice of Law
Joseph Richard Pileri, BA, University of California, Los Angeles; JD, Harvard Law School. Practitioner in Residence
Adeen Postar, AB, Washington University; JD, Washington University; MLS, Catholic University of America. Director of Law Library and Professor of Practice of Law 
Heather E. Ridenour, BBA, Texas Women’s University; JD, Texas Wesleyan University. Legal Rhetoric Instructor
Diego Rodriguez-Pinzon, JD, Universidad de los Andes; LLM, American University; SJD, The George Washington University. Professorial Lecturer in Residence
Susana SáCouto, BA, Brown University; MALD, Tufts University; JD, Northeastern University. Professorial Lecturer in Residence
Macarena Saez, Licenciada en Ciencias Juridicas y Sociales, University of Chile; LLM, Yale University. Fellow in International Legal Studies and Director of the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
Anne Schaufele, BA, DePauw University; JD, American University. Practitioner in Residence
William J. Snape III, BA, University of California, Los Angeles; JD, The George Washington University. Assistant Dean of Adjunct Faculty Affairs and Fellow in Environmental Law
David H. Spratt, BA, The College of William and Mary; JD, American University. Legal Rhetoric Instructor
Diane Weinroth, BA, University of California, Berkeley; JD, Columbia University. Supervising Attorney
Stephen Wermiel, BA, Tufts University; JD, American University. Professor of Practice of Law