PENN STATE DICKINSON LAW WELCOMES NEW FACULTY FOR 2024-2025
August 2024 — Penn State Dickinson Law is pleased to welcome four new visiting professors of law and 11 new adjunct professors of law for the 2024-2025 academic year.
Ronnie R. Gipson Jr. joins Dickinson Law as a visiting associate professor of law, teaching courses in the areas of torts, advanced torts, aviation law, and contracts. Abi Hassen joins Dickinson Law as a visiting assistant professor of law, teaching courses in the areas of professional responsibility, law in emergency, and advocacy. Angela R. Dean joins Dickinson Law as a visiting assistant professor of law, teaching courses in the areas of general counsel in-house experience, legal competencies and law practice management skills, and business entities. Patrick J. Glen joins Dickinson Law as a visiting assistant professor of law, teaching courses in the areas of legal analysis, writing, and advanced persuasion.
“Our new visiting professors bring meaningful experiences with teaching and learning that complement the student-focused program of legal education at Penn State Dickinson Law. The Dickinson Law community is eager to welcome our new colleagues to begin a new academic year dedicated to engagement, growth, and development in the praxis of law,” said Penn State Dickinson Law Dean and Donald J. Farage Professor of Law Danielle M. Conway.
The new adjunct faculty are Lyubomir Avdzhiyski, Crystal H. Clark, Darryl W. Cunningham, Janene M. Druck, Denise E. Elliott, John D. Huh, Neeka Jones, Anna T. Levin, Alxis Rodis, Alexia C. Tomlinson, and Erin Varley. Additional new adjunct faculty will be added to teach in the spring 2025 semester.
“Adjunct faculty at Penn State Dickinson Law make meaningful contributions to the vibrancy of our teaching and learning community. We value their skill, wisdom, and dedication to delivering a program of legal education that supports the teaching and learning environment. I welcome with enthusiasm new and returning colleagues to Penn State Dickinson Law,” said Conway.
Visiting Professors
Ronnie R. Gipson Jr. comes to Dickinson Law after serving as assistant professor of law at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law. Gipson’s scholarship and expertise include international law and aviation law. He serves as chair of the non-profit Legal Advisory Council for the Experimental Aviation Association, and his aviation law scholarship was cited by the U.S. House of Representatives in 2019 and 2020 when investigating the 737 MAX crashes.
Gipson’s recent scholarly works include a book on Tennessee tort law and articles on non-commercial use of aircraft to support women’s health care in a post-Dobbs world. He earned his J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law, and he holds a B.A. from Texas A&M University in modern languages (French).
Abi Hassen joins Dickinson Law with over a decade of experience as an attorney, organizer, and educator. His teaching interests reflect his background in civil liberties, criminal law, technology, and philosophy. He co-founded O’Neill and Hassen, a small practice focused on indigent federal criminal defense, where he is a partner. He also co-founded the Black Movement-Law Project, a non-profit dedicated to rapid response legal support. He has worked for the National Lawyers Guild and as an organizer with UNITE HERE.
Hassen holds an M.A. in political philosophy from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona (Catalonia), Spain, a J.D. from NYU School of Law, and a B.S. (emph., computer science) from The Evergreen State College.
Angela R. Dean joins Dickinson Law after holding various in-house counsel roles with pension funds and health insurers. She served as associate general counsel to the YMCA Retirement Fund and senior ERISA counsel to Health Now New York n/k/a Highmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Eastern and Western New York. As an investigator for the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, Dean enforced Title I of ERISA.
Her academic teaching experience includes serving as a guest lecturer at the University of Maine School of Law and as an adjunct professor at Dickinson Law. She holds a J.D. and an LL.M. in taxation with an employee benefits certificate from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law and a B.A. from Temple University.
Patrick J. Glen comes to Dickinson Law with a history of appellate litigation in immigration matters. He has argued before the Second, Third, Sixth, Ninth, and Eleventh Circuit federal courts of appeals and has filed briefs in every federal appellate court. He has handled seven merits cases before the United States Supreme Court, in collaboration with the Office of the Solicitor General. Glen also teaches a seminar on immigration law at Georgetown University Law Center.
He received his undergraduate degree in philosophy from Dickinson College, his J.D. from Ohio Northern University, and an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center.
Adjunct Professors
Lyubomir Avdzhiyski ’22, who received his LL.M. from Dickinson Law, is a legal expert from Bulgaria with more than ten years of legal and research experience, much of it focused on state sovereignty and human rights in cyberspace. He will teach “Intro to US Law” in the fall semester.
Crystal H. Clark ’03 serves as general counsel for Pennsylvania’s Senate Republican Caucus and before that was of counsel at McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC. She advises on unique areas of law specific to government entities, including the Pennsylvania Ethics Act, Right to Know Law, Sunshine Act, and Senate rules and parliamentary procedure. She will teach the government placements section of the externship program in the fall semester.
Darryl W. Cunningham ’88 has over 35 years of experience in family law and criminal defense, currently serving as an associate attorney at Mooney Law. He received the 2023-’24 St. George Tucker Adjunct Professorship Award at William & Mary Law School, recognizing an outstanding adjunct faculty member for service on behalf of students. He will teach “Domestic Violence & the Law” in the fall semester.
Janene M. Druck ’16 is a member of the civil litigation practice group at McQuaide Blasko, where she concentrates her practice on medical professional liability defense. Her work encompasses all aspects of the civil litigation process. She will teach “Law & Medicine” in the fall semester.
Denise E. Elliott is an experienced litigator and member of the McNees Labor and Employment Practice Group. She is an EEOC-trained investigator and a frequent speaker and author on the topic of medical marijuana in the workplace. She will teach “Administrative Litigation” in the fall semester.
John D. Huh is senior vice president, associate general counsel for Invitation Homes in Dallas, Texas. Prior to that, Huh was a partner at Duane Morris LLP and DLA Piper LLP, and he served as a judicial law clerk for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He will teach “Corporate Compliance” in the fall semester.
Neeka Jones is chief legal officer at the Harrisburg Housing Authority and adjunct professor in the paralegal studies program at Harrisburg Area Community College. She spent eight years as general counsel for the Department of Aging with the Governor’s Office of General Counsel and has significant experience with the Pennsylvania Senate Appropriations Committee. She will teach “State & Local Government” in the fall semester.
Anna T. Levin is a bilingual lawyer and bioethicist with interests in bioethics, health law, health policy, hospital law, health care compliance, Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security, and administrative law. She also serves as a senior health policy analyst and project leader for a non-profit. She will teach “Bioethics & the Law” in the fall semester.
Alxis Rodis is an associate at Venable LLP, focusing her practice on commercial litigation and serving as deputy co-chair for the LGBTQ @ Venable affinity group. Prior to joining Venable, Rodis interned with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia under Magistrate Judge Lawrence R. Leonard. She will teach “Legal Research I Section 204” in the fall semester.
Alexia C. Tomlinson ’18 is a staff attorney on the Training and Technical Assistance team at the Victim Rights Law Center. Previously, Tomlinson was a Justice for Victims Fellow with the Institute to Address Commercial Sexual Exploitation at Villanova University. She was a co-recipient of Dickinson Law’s Women’s Law Caucus Recent Alumna Award in 2021. She and Varley will teach “Trauma Informed Lawyering” in the fall semester.
Erin Varley ’18 is the senior deputy district attorney in the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office, with a primary focus on human trafficking and sexual violence/child abuse prosecutions. She was a co-recipient of Dickinson Law’s Women’s Law Caucus Recent Alumna Award in 2021. She and Tomlinson will teach “Trauma Informed Lawyering” in the fall semester.