Faculty Receive Awards at 2023 Commencement

Adjunct faculty awards- Recipients were selected based on enthusiasm for teaching and learning, interest in the students, sensitivity to the learning environment, and innovation of instruction.  This year’s recipients were Adam Tragone (fall semester) and David Jamison (spring semester).  

Excellence in Teaching Award- Professor Ashley London was selected for outstanding contributions in teaching.  The recipient demonstrated the ability to engage students actively in the learning process through teaching that is intellectually rigorous and innovative. 

Thomas R. Kline Excellence in Teaching Award- Awarded to the full-time faculty member who, as determined by the dean, best demonstrates overall excellence in and adherence to our mission in teaching as evidenced by student and peer evaluations.  The inaugural award in this area goes to Professor Jane Moriarty for her exceptional teaching in the areas of evidence and professional responsibility. She is adept at both in-person and online teaching, providing students with the knowledge and tools they need to succeed in difficult substantive areas of law, and is highly thought of by both students and faculty peers.  

Thomas R. Kline Innovation in Teaching Award- Awarded to the fulltime faculty member who best demonstrates innovative and creative teaching methods that serve the pedagogical needs of our students, and advances legal pedagogy generally. The inaugural award in this area goes to Professor Wes Oliver for his innovative coding for lawyers class which is one of only three similar classes taught in U.S. law schools. The course had gained national attention, and students from the course have gone on to successfully represent Duquesne Kline at law & technology competitions across the country.  

Thomas R. Kline Meritorious Service Award- Awarded to the fulltime faculty member(s) whose contributions to the law school and its mission exceeded expectations and had a significant positive impact on the university and our community partners.  The inaugural award in this area goes to Professor Kate Norton and Professor Grace Orsatti for their outstanding work developing the elder law justice consortium, a partnership among all Pennsylvania law schools, serving the needs of Pennsylvania’s aging population and providing opportunities for law students to learn and serve their communities. 

Murray Scholarship Faculty Award- In 2011, Chancellor John Murray honored the school’s 100th anniversary by making a substantial gift. The gift was to establish the Murray endowed fund for faculty scholarship. The fund has allowed us to invite nationally acclaimed legal scholars to the law school.  The fund also enables us to recognize our own outstanding faculty scholars each year.  The Murray Award for Faculty Scholarship was bestowed upon Professor Richard Heppner for his scholarship in appellate procedure and judicial interpretation.