2009-2010 St. George Tucker Award Presented to Professor Neal J. Robinson

Professor Neal Robinson Receives St. George Tucker Award
Professor Neal Robinson Receives St. George Tucker Award Dean Davison Douglas presented the 2009-2010 St. George Tucker Adjunct Professorship to Neal J. Robinson on August 28, 2009. The professorship, created in 1995, is given each year to a member of the Law School’s adjunct faculty for outstanding teaching.
by Ami Dodson |  September 9, 2009
William & Mary Law School Dean Davison Douglas presented the 2009-2010 St. George Tucker Adjunct Professorship Award to Neal J. Robinson during a luncheon at the Alumni House on August 28, 2009.  The award, created in 1995, is given each year to a member of the Law School’s adjunct faculty for outstanding teaching and is named in honor of  St. George Tucker, a law professor at William & Mary in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries who was one of the most influential legal scholars of his time.

Robinson is a partner with Tarley Robinson P.L.L.C. in Williamsburg, where he specializes in mergers and acquisitions, corporate, and securities law.  He is a 1992 graduate of the Law School and has been a member of the adjunct faculty since 2003.  He teaches Complex Transactional Practice and Accounting for Lawyers.  In the past two years, he has also co-taught an innovative course that involves both law and business students, Entrepreneurship: Business & Legal Problems.

Douglas said he has fond memories of teaching Robinson when he was a student at the Law School.  “Neal was not a shy or retiring law student,” Douglas recalled.  “He had an intensity about him, and he came to class every day geared up and ready for action.”  Robinson’s own students now appreciate that same intensity, Douglas noted.  “Many students say they value the real world experience Neal brings to class.  Others speak to his enthusiasm for teaching.”

Before attending law school, Robinson enjoyed a successful career in business.  Early in his career, Robinson became Vice President for Finance of Braniff Airlines – the youngest person in that company’s history to hold that position.  Thereafter, Robinson served as President and Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Telephone, a company that later became the long-distance unit of Sprint Communications.  Immediately before beginning his studies at William & Mary Law School in 1989, Robinson was the Chief Executive Officer of Voice Control Systems – a company that became a world leader in the development of voice recognition technologies.

“Neal Robinson is a marvelous person to serve as our St. George Tucker Adjunct Professor for 2009-10,” said Douglas.  “He is an extraordinarily dedicated teacher who brings a rich background in both law and business to the classroom.  Our students are fortunate to have him as their professor.”

In addition to his teaching duties and law practice, Robinson also serves on the Foundation Board for the William & Mary Law School.  Along with his William & Mary J.D., Robinson earned a Ph.D. from the University of North Texas, an M.B.A. from the University of Dallas, and a B.B.A. from the University of North Texas.