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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law is endowing its first faculty chair made possible by the gift from school’s namesake donor.
The Gerald L. Bepko Chair in Law will be held by incoming legal scholar Xuan-Thao Nguyen. Currently a professor at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, Nguyen will join the IU McKinney faculty in August 2014 and lead the school’s Center for Intellectual Property Law and Innovation.
“Without the McKinney gift we wouldn’t have the resources to attract somebody of that caliber and I think we’re going to be doing an even better job than we are now of training people who want to do intellectual property law which ties in with Indianapolis’ strength as a life science center,” said IU McKinney Dean Andrew Klein.
The law school has endowed professorships but has never had an endowed chair. Klein explained an endowed chair is the highest status title that a law professor can hold.
In addition, a $200,000 gift from the Indianapolis law firm of Cohen & Malad LLP, will enable the law school to create an endowment fund that will establish the Cohen & Malad Fellowship.
Nguyen is internationally recognized for her teaching and scholarship in the areas of intellectual property, secured transactions, bankruptcy, licensing and taxation. She has co-authored several treatises, casebooks and law review articles.
Her work has reached beyond the U.S. borders. She frequently provides technical expertise and support to the Vietnam Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Science and Technology. She is a consultant for the World Bank/IFC on secured transactions in China, Vietnam and the Mekong Region.
Nguyen described her new position at IU McKinney as an honor and a privilege.
“I look forward to working with my colleagues, students, alumni and friends in building a vibrant Center for all and a special home for training future leaders around the world in IP and related fields,” Nguyen said.
The Cohen & Malad Fellowship will fund one or more student fellows at IU McKinney to work on cases involving consumer law. These students will also play an integral role in the planning and implementation of an event designed to educate the legal community about topics related to consumer law.
The inaugural fellows will be selected in the fall of 2015.
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