Welcome to all of our new J.D. and LL.M. students, and welcome back to our returning 2L and 3L students! I am delighted that you are here and excited for the year ahead.
Aside from all of our first-year law and LL.M. students, we have some other new faces around the building. First, we are welcoming new faculty members to the Law College. Professor Christal Sheppard comes to us from Capitol Hill, where she served as Chief Counsel to the House Judiciary Committee for Patents and Trademarks, and prior to that, as an attorney for the U.S. international Trade Commission. Her expertise has taken her around the world to teach and consult on intellectual property issues. Professor Sheppard has a Ph.D in cell biology from the University of Michigan, and a J.D. from Cornell Law School. She will be teaching courses in Patent Law and Science and the Law.
Professor Jack Beard comes to us from the UCLA Law School where he has been teaching for several years. He is an expert in national security law and international arms control, as well as cyberwarfare. Professor Beard is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army JAG Corps., and has served in the General Counsel’s office of the Department of Defense. Professor Beard has a J.D. from Michigan Law School and an LL.M. in international and comparative law from Georgetown University Law Center. He will be teaching courses in the LL.M. program in Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law, focusing on national security law, international telecommunications, and military law. Professor Christyne Vachon joins us as a visiting professor teaching Business Associations and related classes this year. Professor Vachon has a decade of experience practicing corporate and securities law and counseling start-up companies. Her expertise in securities law has taken her to the University of Mongolia on a Fulbright Grant where she taught business classes and consulted on the Mongolian stock market. Professor Vachon has a J.D. from the University of Denver and has taught at the University of Tennessee and Northeastern University.
On a more mundane note, you no doubt already know about the tile replacement that is going on in the lobby. We had an opportunity to get this done late in the summer and had hoped it would be completed by the beginning of classes, but alas, we did not quite make it. The obstacle course should continue for a few more weeks, but then I think we will all be very happy with the new floor and how it lightens up and warms up our lobby. The next step will be furnishings for the lobby so that it can be a comfortable gathering place while remaining our main thoroughfare. I will be contacting students to get your input about this soon. In the meantime, please take care as you move about the building, as the floor has some uneven spots.
There are lots of exciting things going on this semester. On September 14th and 15th, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will be in residence at the College, visiting classes, interacting with students and faculty, and giving a public lecture. Also this fall, we will have a national security whistleblower, a speaker discussing the famous Nebraskan, William Jennings Bryan, and a renowned Chicago trial lawyer, all giving presentations at the College. There will be many other speakers and lot of career services programming, so keep reading the Sounding Block and watching the video boards in the lobby. I urge you to take advantage of these opportunities to broaden your horizons beyond the classroom.
Another way to broaden your horizons is to participate in our TYPO program. TYPO stands for Take Your Professor Out. If you want to take one of your professors or a dean or director out to lunch, the Dean's Office would be pleased to reimburse you for up to $25. This should be enough to cover all of the cost for two students and a professor (given Lincoln's generally reasonable lunch prices) and most of the cost for larger groups. In general, there are only two requirements: 1) each lunch must include at least one professor and at least two students and 2) each student is eligible for only one free lunch. Just pick up a reimbursement form from Patty Sprague, the receptionist in the Dean’s office, before you go to lunch, and then return the completed form and an itemized receipt to Patty.
Again, welcome, and welcome back, and I wish you all the best for a great year at the College of Law.