May 08, 2026
Legal Education Leadership 2026: Dean Conway's Monthly AALS Presidential Update for April
Speaking engagements in Chicago, Virginia, and the Commonwealth, as well as an Executive Committee meeting
Penn State Dickinson Law and School of International Affairs Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law Danielle M. Conway with attendees at the University of Virginia School of Laws Virginia Journal of Law and Technology Symposium.
AALS president Danielle M. Conway spent April presenting her scholarship, leading her first AALS Executive Committee meeting as president, and serving as the keynote speaker at a Penn State College of Medicine and Health System event.
Conway participated in the Transitional Justice in the USA Speakers Series, spoke at the Intellectual Property Rights in Government Contracting Symposium, appeared as the keynote speaker at the Annual Cultivating Community Lecture sponsored by Penn State College of Medicine and Health System, and served on a panel at the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Civil Litigation Section Retreat.
Additionally, Conway convened her first AALS Executive Committee meeting as president. The gathering took place at the AALS office in Washington, D.C., where her presidential portrait was recently installed.
Conway attended many events at Penn State Dickinson Law as well, including the Annual Diversity Banquet and a special alumni reception in University Park, the Miller Center Banquet and the Cyberspace Law, Policy + War Simulation in Carlisle, and a celebration of Professor and Dean Emeritus Gary Gildin, who will retire next month after 47 years at the Law School.
New England Law | Boston and Roger Williams University School of Law
On April 7, Conway took part in the webinar “Reimagining Repair: The Role of DEI in Racial Redress and Institutional Reform,” co-hosted by New England Law and Boston and Roger Williams University School of Law. Others on the panel included Anu Gupta, founder of Be More with Anu; Taino Palermo, co-director of the Center for Indigenous Peoples Rights; and Marie Wilson, journalist and former Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Conway addressed the historical context of the fundamental principles of the United States. “The Reconstruction amendments, particularly the 14th Amendment, were meant to restart society, and they were meant to restart society on a multicultural, multiethnic, multiracial, and intersectional basis. There were so many conversations in legislative history about this. People were in fisticuffs arguing about it, and we should recognize that, because that's how important that restart was,” said Conway.
Intellectual Property Rights in Government Contracting Symposium
Co-sponsored by The Virginia Journal of Law & Technology and the Center on Intellectual Property Law, the symposium was held at the University of Virginia School of Law on April 17. Conway spoke on the “Intellectual Property in Government Contracting” panel, focusing on her reverence for the U.S. public procurement system and the groundbreaking bipartisan Bayh-Dole Act of 1980.
Penn State College of Medicine and Health System
On April 24 in Hershey, PA, Conway delivered the Office of Healthcare Advancement and Community Engagement’s Annual Cultivating Community Lecture keynote address, titled “Building and Sustaining Coalitions.” She drew on her decanal experience as well as lessons learned as the executive director of the Antiracist Development Institute at Penn State Dickinson Law, which is in coalition with more than 75 institutions across the country.
Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Civil Litigation Section
The section held a retreat on April 25, and Conway served on a panel titled, “America 250: Lessons Learned from the Founders that Apply to Today’s Litigation.” It also allowed her to reconnect with colleagues from across the Commonwealth.