Faculty Resolution in Recognition of Danielle M. Conway

WHEREAS Danielle M. Conway served as Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law at Penn State Dickinson Law from 2019-2026, leading the law school through ground-breaking and tumultuous events, and through which she displayed fierce devotion to the law school and the people in it, tireless resolve and patience, candid questioning of the status quo and the conventional hierarchies, an ability to inspire and center others, a wonderful sense of humor, humility, and fearlessness;

WHEREAS Danielle earned a bachelor’s degree from New York University Stern School of Business, double majoring in finance and international business, a J.D. degree, with honors, from the Howard University School of Law, where she graded on to the Howard Law Journal and served on the leadership board of the National Moot Court Team, and dual LL.M. degrees in Government Procurement Law and Environmental Law from the George Washington University Law School;

WHEREAS Danielle has been admitted to the bars in the District of Columbia, Hawai’i, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania;

WHEREAS Danielle brought more than thirty years of experience as a leading expert in procurement law, entrepreneurship, intellectual property law, and licensing intellectual property, joining Penn State Dickinson Law after serving for four years as dean of the University of Maine School of Law, 14 years on the faculty of the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, William S. Richardson School of Law, where she was the inaugural Michael J. Marks Distinguished Professor of Business Law, as a member of the faculties at the Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, as Chair in Law at LaTrobe University, Faculty of Law & Management in Australia, as a visiting member of the faculties at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and George Washington University Law School, as an Honorary Academic Fellow at the University of Melbourne Business School’s Asia Pacific Social Impact Leadership Centre in Australia, and as a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Australia;

WHEREAS Danielle is a dynamic and prolific scholar, the author or editor of more than a dozen books and casebooks, and an impressive number of book chapters, articles, and essays, and can often be found at her writing desk surrounded by a pile of books and manuscript drafts, with a pair of posh eyeglasses perched on her forehead as she leans in to start writing;

WHEREAS Danielle’s scholarly contributions and speeches have focused on entrepreneurship, intellectual property, international law, internet law, and procurement law, and her current scholarly work focuses on advocating for public education, antiracism and the legal profession, and actualizing the rights of marginalized groups, in particular Indigenous Peoples, minoritized people, and members of rural communities;

WHEREAS Danielle first started teaching law students in 1996 at the Georgetown University School of Law, and across her career has taught in the areas of tort law, government contract law, intellectual property, legal writing, and also created and taught a special course titled “Women’s Suffrage, the 19th Amendment, and the Duality of a Movement” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, and through her teaching she inspired in her students deep respect for the rule of law, democratic ideals, and the U.S. Constitution;

WHEREAS Danielle’s contributions to legal education and the legal profession more broadly have influenced the current shape and future direction of these fields, as reflected in her being selected as a member of the American Law Institute, being an appointed member of the Association of American Law Schools’ (AALS) Executive Committee, being appointed to the Board of Directors of AccessLex Institute, being an appointed member of both the Pennsylvania Bar Association COVID-19 Task Force and the Joint Task Force on Continuity of Legal Services, and being a co-recipient of the inaugural AALS Impact Award, which honors individuals who have had a significant, positive impact on legal education or the legal profession, recognizing her work in establishing the Law Deans Antiracist Clearinghouse Project, and serving as one of three co-chairs of the Select Penn State Presidential Commission on Racism, Bias, and Community Safety;

WHEREAS Danielle was elected president of the Association of American Law Schools for 2026, where her theme for the year, “Emancipate. Academic. Freedom.”, is bringing legal educators and scholars together in coalition around upholding academic freedom;

WHEREAS Danielle founded and serves as the Executive Director of the Antiracist Development Institute at Penn State Dickinson Law since 2021, an initiative aimed at dismantling systemic racial inequality generously funded by the Law School Admissions Council, the AccessLex Institute, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and Emily and G. Griffith “Griff” Lindsay and supported by a nationwide coalition of over 100 authors, scholars, and attorneys creating a ten-book series called “Building an Antiracist Law School, Legal Academy, and Legal Profession” forthcoming through the University of California Press, the first three volumes of which will be in print in January 2027;

WHEREAS Danielle was asked by Penn State University President Neeli Bendapudi to lead the reunification of Penn State’s two law schools, and where she engaged students, staff, faculty, and alumni in the reunification process, encouraged a sense of shared community and common purpose, and served as the dean of the law school and School of International Affairs during its first year of unified operation in academic year 2025-2026;

WHEREAS Danielle’s military service in the U.S. Army spanned 27 years of combined active, reserve, and national guard service, retiring in 2016 at the rank lieutenant colonel after assignments in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's (JAG) Corps., including a teaching assignment at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Virginia, and continued as a mentor and guide to hundreds of law students who had served prior to starting their legal studies and to those who entered the military following law school;

WHEREAS Danielle embraced the University’s land grant mission, orienting her priorities as Dean and her vision for the law school in the Commonwealth’s needs, and during her tenure as Dean the law school exceeded its goals from the last capital campaign, achieved its objective of expanding access and affordability for students, and inspired exceptional faculty who are using their knowledge to improve individual lives and entire communities; thereby extending the reach of Penn State Dickinson Law’s service mission throughout the Commonwealth and the nation;

WHEREAS Danielle has devoted decades of her life to mentoring and improving the lives of students and young attorneys, faculty colleagues, new deans and so many others, showing tremendous generosity and grace, always making time to help those who may be struggling, providing wise counsel, and delivering difficult news with candor, compassion, and continuing support;

WHEREAS Danielle’s teaching, scholarship, leadership and service have at their core the objective of creating space and voice for the unheralded, lesser known, and historically unrepresented voices to grow and thrive as evident in her advocacy for dismantling faculty and staff caste systems and honoring the value of all legal educators, those in and out of the classroom;

WHEREAS Danielle understood the value of being a good neighbor, both locally and globally, and extended this neighborly outreach from the personal level to the institutional, seeking collaboration rather than competition and building partnerships across the legal academy and higher education;

WHEREAS Danielle graciously opened her home to faculty, staff, and students, often issuing an open invitation to all members of the law school community, especially those who could not travel home during breaks, to join her family for holiday meals and other occasions;

WHEREAS Danielle’s career and character reflect selfless and distinguished service to the law school, the university, the legal academy and profession, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the nation;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the faculty extends its heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to Danielle M. Conway for her leadership, scholarship, teaching, and service, and extends its very best wishes to her on the occasion of her return to the faculty; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be preserved in the records and minutes of the Penn State Dickinson Law Faculty, posted on the law school’s social media channels and website, and a copy of this resolution be maintained as a permanent record of her accomplishments at Penn State Dickinson Law.

Adopted this 31st day of July 2026

Jonathan D’Silva and Emily Spottswood
Co-Chairs of the Faculty
Penn State Dickinson Law