Laura A. Heymann Named Class of 2014 Professor of Law
The College of William & Mary has named Law School Professor Laura A. Heymann the Class of 2014 Professor of Law. Heymann will hold this professorship for three years. She is the second law professor to receive this honor: Professor Jim Dwyer previously held the professorship for the Class of 2010.
In 2004, the students at the College voted to impose an annual fee to fund a distinguished professorship for an early-to-mid-career tenured faculty member who “clearly meets the College’s highest standards in teaching, scholarship, and service.”
Heymann’s selection for this professorship was made by a ten-person committee consisting of five faculty members and five students. The students included the presidents of the classes of 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, and the president of the Graduate Student Council.
"It is a tremendous honor to be named the Class of 2014 Professor of Law,” says Heymann. “The fact that this professorship was created by the students themselves confirms how special a place William & Mary is. I'm very grateful for this recognition and for the privilege of working with my students and colleagues."
“Laura Heymann is a wonderful choice for the Class of 2014 Professorship,” says Dean Davison M. Douglas. “She is a marvelous teacher, beloved by her students, and an influential intellectual property scholar. We are very proud to see her receive this honor.”
Heymann joined the faculty in 2005. She is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), where she was elected to Order of the Coif and served as the Book Review Editor on the California Law Review.
Prior to her appointment, Heymann was the inaugural Frank H. Marks Visiting Associate Professor of Law and Administrative Fellow in the Intellectual Property Law Program at The George Washington University Law School. She has also served as an assistant general counsel at America Online, Inc.; as an associate at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in Washington, D.C.; and as a law clerk to the Hon. Patricia M. Wald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Prior to attending law school, Heymann worked as an assistant editor at St. Martin's Press in New York. She received her B.A. in English, magna cum laude, from Yale. Heymann was selected by the 2008 graduating class as the recipient of the Walter L. Williams, Jr., Memorial Teaching Award.