Three Law Professors Receive Plumeri Awards for Faculty Excellence
Three members of the William & Mary Law School faculty—James G. Dwyer, Michael S. Green, and Tara Leigh Grove--have received Plumeri Awards for Faculty Excellence this year.
The award, established with a generous gift from Joseph J. Plumeri II ’66, D.P.S. ’11, recognizes 20 faculty members each year for exemplary achievements in teaching, research and service. Faculty members have used the award to enhance their research and teaching and to support travel to scholarly conferences.
Now in its sixth year, 120 William & Mary and Virginia Institute of Marine Science faculty members have received Plumeri Awards since 2009, the inaugural year for the honor. All recipients receive $10,000, which can be used during the course of two years for research, summer salaries or other stipends associated with scholarly endeavor.
“Invariably, recipients of Plumeri Awards express what a significant difference their awards make in their teaching and research. That difference can be felt across campus and beyond,” said Provost Michael R. Halleran.
“I congratulate the 2014 recipients, and I also thank Mr. Plumeri, on behalf of the entire College, for once again extending this generous support to our wonderful faculty members,” Halleran said.
Brief biographies of each of the Law School's 2014 Plumeri Award recipients appear below.
James G. Dwyer
Arthur B. Hanson Professor of Law
Since receiving a Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence in 2010, Professor Dwyer has continued to distinguish himself as one of the country’s foremost thinkers on children’s rights and family law. His innovation as a scholar spills over into the classroom, and students often praise his ability to foster inclusive, issue-based discussions that incorporate an advocacy perspective. Since his last Plumeri Award, Dwyer’s scholarly output has been remarkable. To an already impressive array of publications, Dwyer added more than 10 journal articles; a casebook on family law; and his fourth book, Moral Status and Human Life: The Case for Children’s Superiority. Through his writings and his presentations domestically and abroad, Dwyer argues passionately and provocatively for a more child-centric legal regime — and effectively has changed the conversation in his field. His work has deep implications for law and policymaking in areas such as adoption, domestic violence, education reform, imprisonment and international children’s rights issues. Dwyer holds a juris doctorate from Yale Law School and a doctorate in moral and political philosophy from Stanford University. Before entering the legal academy, he was a law guardian in New York State Family Court and a practicing attorney.
Michael S. Green
Dudley W. Woodbridge Professor of Law
An expert in
civil procedure, conflict of laws, constitutional law and the philosophy of law, Professor Green received a Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence in 2011. Since then, he has maintained an extraordinary level of scholarly productivity, while also demonstrating an impressive commitment to the classroom. In the past three years, Green has produced four full-length law review articles, along with other writings. The author of an acclaimed book on Friedrich Nietzsche, Green has taught an undergraduate seminar on the famous German philosopher in addition to his law courses at William & Mary. His latest book, The Oxford Introductions to U.S. Law: Civil Procedure, is forthcoming. Green has emerged recently as a leading scholar on the landmark 1938 U.S. Supreme Court decision Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins. Skilled at using the tools of philosophy to explore and clarify knotty issues in the law, Green is deeply respected by colleagues and students alike. He is known as a challenging professor who makes complex material understandable, fun and even exciting. One student commented, “His cold calling methodology was nerve-wracking, but it also encouraged each student to bring their A-game every single day.” Green, who formerly taught philosophy at Tufts University, holds a doctorate in philosophy and a juris doctorate from Yale University.
Tara Leigh Grove
Associate Professor of Law
Professor Grove’s teaching and research focus on the federal judiciary and the constitutional separation of powers. Indicative of the high respect her scholarship has received by others in her field, the Federal Courts section of the Association of
American Law Schools (AALS) selected one of her publications as the Best Article of 2012 by an untenured professor. Grove currently chairs the AALS Federal Courts section. She has presented at some of the nation’s top law schools, and her work has been discussed or cited in leading federal court casebooks. At William & Mary, Grove provides foundational knowledge to first-year students in her outstanding Constitutional Law course and challenges upper-level students in her highly praised Federal Courts course. She also teaches Civil Procedure as well as Congress and the Courts. Students routinely commend Grove for her passion, thoughtfulness and ability to provoke good discussions in the classroom through her cold-calling method. Earning a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School, Grove clerked for Judge Emilio M. Garza of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and spent four years as an attorney on the appellate staff of the U.S. Department of Justice prior to entering the legal academy in 2009.
For the list of all 20 Plumeri Award recipients, click here.