Professors Heymann and Oman Among Recipients of Plumeri Awards for Faculty Excellence
Two members of the Law School faculty - Laura A. Heymann and Nathan B. Oman - are among 20 professors from the College of William & Mary selected to receive Plumeri Awards for Faculty Excellence in recognition of their exemplary achievements in regard to teaching, research and service.
Previous Law School recipients include Peter A. Alces (2011), Jayne W. Barnard (2010), Nancy Combs (2009), Neal Devins (2009), Davison Douglas (2009), James G. Dwyer (2010), Michael Steven Green (2011) and Alan J. Meese (2010), Sarah L. Stafford, who holds a joint appointment in the Department of Economics (2011), and Timothy Zick (2011).
Four years ago, Joseph J. Plumeri II '66, D.P.S. '11 made a commitment to create the Plumeri Awards for Faculty Excellence at William & Mary. At the time, he said the goal was to empower the College's professors to continue to "work passionately to challenge the minds of our exceptional students."
First awarded in 2009, Plumeri Awards for Faculty Excellence have touched faculty and students in almost every corner of the campus, and now the College is announcing the 2012 honorees. Including this year's cohort, 80 William & Mary faculty members have received this prestigious award and used it to strengthen research, to support scholarly publications, and to travel to conferences and universities around the world. The experiences and knowledge these faculty members gain as a result of this award has a tangible effect on their teaching and students, according to William & Mary Provost Michael R. Halleran.
"Individually, these awards expand opportunities for our faculty and students," he said. "Collectively, they enhance the teaching and learning that takes place at William & Mary."
All recipients receive $10,000, which is used for research, summer salaries or other stipends associated with scholarly endeavors.
"The impact these awards have is undeniable and stunning," Halleran said. "We are infinitely grateful to Joseph Plumeri II for his passion, generosity and dedication to his alma mater."
Laura A. Heymann
Class of 2014 Professor of Law
Recognized as a leading young intellectual property scholar, Professor Heymann was honored with the Thomas Jefferson Teaching Award at William & Mary's 2012 Charter Day Ceremony. She is a well-known and sought-after academic on copyrights, trademarks, and related topics. Since she arrived at William & Mary in 2005, Heymann's students have consistently rated her as one of the Law School's best professors. In a class evaluation, one student wrote, "Every professor should be required to observe this class and take notes. Professor Heymann has the perfect methods for organizing and directing class discussions." She has authored numerous articles, symposium pieces, and a book chapter. The Law School's Class of 2008 selected Heymann to receive the Walter L. Williams, Jr., Memorial Teaching Award, and she also won the College's annual Raft Debate in 2008. Before coming to William & Mary, 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. Heymann holds a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley, where she graduated Order of the Coif and served as the book review editor on the California Law Review.
Nathan B. Oman
Associate Professor of Law
The author of a substantial body of scholarship since joining the Law School in 2006, Professor Oman has published nine full-length articles along with a number of shorter pieces. In addition to making contributions across a range of legal disciplines, Oman has become an accomplished and well-known scholar in two very disparate fields - contract theory and law and religion. He has also written a series of significant, high-impact articles in the field of law and religion. He is currently working on a project entitled "Markets as a Moral Foundation for Contract Law." He also recently authored the articles "A Pragmatic Defense of Contract Law," SSRN, and "Specific Performance and the Thirteenth Amendment," SSRN. William & Mary Law School students appreciate Oman in the classroom. The numerical scores of his student evaluations markedly exceed the mean for the Law School, and students have praised Oman for his ability to make highly technical subjects accessible. Oman is also interested in the scholarly study of Mormonism, particularly Mormon legal experience. He contributes to "Times & Seasons," a group blog on Mormon issues. Oman holds a juris doctorate from Harvard University, where he graduated cum laude.
Brief biographies of all 20 2012 Plumeri Awards recipients appear on the College's website.