Professors Butler, Combs, Ibrahim and Oman Recognized with Plumeri Awards for Faculty Excellence
From a globally recognized leader in international criminal law and a leading linguistic scholar to a widely published neuroscientist, the 2016 Plumeri Awards for Faculty Excellence will be bestowed today upon 20 talented and visionary professors across William & Mary's campus. Professors Lynda L. Butler, Nancy Combs, Darian M. Ibrahim, and Nathan B. Oman of the Law School faculty are among those being honored for their exemplary contributions in teaching, research and service.
"The ultimate goal of the Plumeri Awards is to promote and reward the innovation and creativity of our faculty, who serve as the foundation for the university's excellence," said Provost Michael R. Halleran. "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." The award, established in 2009 with a generous gift from Joseph J. Plumeri II '66, D.P.S. '11, empowers faculty to continue to work passionately to challenge the minds of exceptional students.
Law School Honorees
Lynda L. Butler
Chancellor Professor of Law
After eight years of service as vice dean of W&M Law School and one year as acting dean, Butler has quickly established herself as a prominent scholar in the field of property rights and land use law. She is also known as a thoughtful teacher who devotes a considerable amount of time to ensuring that her students not only learn basic legal principles, but also learn how those principles affect real-world problems. Through her recent scholarship, Butler is establishing herself as an important voice in the debates over how the law should address property. Her continued directorship of the Law School's Property Rights Project and her leadership of its annual conferences in Williamsburg and around the world will continue to solidify her place in the academic community. She holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia and a B.S. from the College of William & Mary.
Nancy Combs
Ernest W. Goodrich Professor of Law
Combs's ground-breaking scholarship has made her a recognized leader in the field of international criminal law. She has authored two books and more than two dozen articles and book chapters. She also has served as an 
expert witness in genocide trials in Norway and the Netherlands. She has trained defense counsel in Bosnia, and she has served on the International Expert Framework, a project that identified and explicated the fundamental principles of international criminal procedure. Through these many activities, Combs is deeply engaged with the practice of international criminal law as well as with its most theoretical aspects. A dynamic and exceptionally popular teacher, Combs also weaves her cutting-edge scholarship into her courses on U.S. criminal law, international criminal law, and human rights. She holds a doctorate from Leiden University and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Before joining William & Mary Law School, Combs clerked on the United States Supreme Court and served as a legal advisor for the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague.
Darian M. Ibrahim
Professor of Law
Since coming to William & Mary in 2014, Ibrahim has quickly become a leading scholar and beloved teacher. His expertise on law and entrepreneurship has been widely recognized, and his careful qualitative analysis has 
helped both those in academics and business to gain a better understanding of innovative forms of startup investing and business development. A prolific scholar, he has published one or more major articles each year in some of the nation's leading law journals. With his scholarly pace showing no signs of slowing down, Ibrahim will continue to have an impact on how we think about law and entrepreneurship for some time to come. He holds a J.D. from Cornell University.
Nathan B. Oman
Tazewell Taylor Research Professor of Law
An expert on bankruptcy law, Oman's teaching focuses on contract law, the philosophy of private law and religion in legislature. With more than two dozen articles and publications on law and religion in the past decade, he has become one of the Law School's most respected teachers and highly accomplished scholars. Oman leads the Financial Crisis Reading Group at William & Mary, an interdisciplinary organization sponsored by the Law 
School that is dedicated to the discussion of contemporary economic issues. He is a current or former member of the American Bar Association, the American Society for Legal History, the Society for Political and Legal Philosophy, the Mormon History Association, and the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology. Oman, who received a Plumeri Award in 2012, brings an impressive intellectual depth and breadth to his scholarship and teaching. He holds a J.D. from Harvard
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