Drake University Law School has been named among the best legal writing programs in the country in U.S. News and World Report’s 2024 rankings of accredited law schools. This year, Drake’s legal writing program is ranked eleventh in the nation and tied with the University of Michigan for best in the Midwest. The Law School is often recognized for the strength of its legal writing program, consistently ranking among the top 20 in U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”

Drake Law School equips students with the legal writing and research skills they need to succeed in the profession. “We have always been proud of our legal writing program,” said Drake Law Dean Jerry Anderson, “and this ranking is evidence of our continuing strength and leadership in this area. Our mission is to prepare ‘complete professionals’ and the ability to communicate effectively and present precise legal analysis are key components of any successful legal career,” said Anderson.

Drake’s legal writing faculty members, Professors Melissa Weresh and Danielle Shelton, are respected leaders in their field who continually engage with other professionals and ensure that Drake’s program is up to date and meets the standards of legal education. Last fall, Drake hosted the 2023 Central States Legal Writing Conference in September. The theme, Embracing New Challenges and Opportunities: Ready for Impact, explored how current trends such as student and faculty wellness, ABA Standard 303, and ChatGPT can enhance teaching and student development.

Professor Weresh has long been a leader in the legal writing community. She was awarded the 2023 Association of Legal Writing Directors’ (ALWD) Linda Berger Award for Excellence in Legal Writing Scholarship. Professor Weresh emphasizes the collaborative approach taken by the Drake faculty, noting “For many years the legal writing faculty have worked closely and effectively with one another to ensure that our students have excellent training in legal communication. Like the team-based learning approach we employ in the classroom, we enjoy a strong sense of collegiality and cooperation with one another.”

Professor Danielle Shelton, who graduated magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, has taught Legal Writing at Drake since 2003 and uses her background as a litigator to contribute to Drake’s rigorous legal writing program. Professor Shelton was recently awarded the Madelyn M. Levitt Distinguished Community Service Award for her work in advocating for marginalized communities, evidenced by her efforts to overturn unfavorable court orders affecting victims’ rights, drafting legislation to address legal gaps, promoting inclusivity for victims with mental disabilities through research and legislative advocacy, actively supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at Drake Law, and dedicating extensive volunteer service to animal welfare organizations.

Of Drake’s legal writing program, Professor Shelton says, “Drake is committed to creating practice-ready lawyers—lawyers who can effectively represent clients from Day 1 out of law school. Strong legal writing skills play a crucial role in that, and our legal writing program teaches students the fundamentals and rigors of how lawyers write.”

In the overall U.S News rankings, Drake Law continues to climb, reaching its highest ranking ever (#82) in this year’s list.

 — Taylor Johnson, Law School

In a news-rich month in U.S.-Japan relations, Mary M. McCarthy, professor of politics and international relations, was called on to provide her expertise on the BBC program The Context, through authorship of an article in The Conversation, and in a quote for the Washington Post. For the former two, she analyzed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s April state visit to the US. In the last, she commented on President Joe Biden’s subsequent (and unfortunate) comment about a “xenophobic” Japan at a campaign event on May 1.

After an extensive self-study process led by Dr. Bengu Erguner-Tekinalp followed by a site visit team review and CACREP Board review the Counselor Education program was awarded accreditation through 2032. The Counselor Education program satisfactorily met all of the applicable standards for all three of the programs and was awarded the maximum eight year accreditation.

— Matt Bruinekool, School of Education

The Principal Global Citizenship Award was presented during the 2024 Global Citizen Forum. The award recognizes Drake faculty or staff who have made outstanding contributions to global engagement and internationalization of the campus and curriculum.

The 2023 recipient of the Principal Global Citizenship Award is Professor Susan Pritchett, director of clinical and experiential education at the Law School.

Professor Pritchett arrived at Drake University in 2018, and from the beginning she has contributed to a multitude of programs at Drake that have shaped the global mindset of students and built their intercultural capacity. She is a teacher, a mentor, and an advocate. Her work is centered on international human rights in action and creating experiences for her students that will not only be transformative for them, but that have tremendous community impact as well.

When Professor Pritchett arrived here, Drake Law did not have any kind of immigration clinic or services and no faculty expertise in the area. In this absence, Prof. Pritchett pioneered opportunities for Drake law students to gain meaningful global experiences. In 2019, she co-created an Applied Immigration Law Course that is still being offered to this day. This course traces the history of the Burmese conflict, allowing student to more deeply understand war and ethnic violence that perpetuates refugee flows. She invites members of the local Burmese community to class to share their experiences fleeing persecution in Burma and starting over in the US through refugee resettlement programs. The capstone experience involves partnering with a local NGO that serves Burmese refugees. As an outcome of that capstone, Drake law students have assisted 45 of the non-profit’s clients in applying for immigration benefits including green cards and citizenship.

In 2020, Professor Pritchett worked to secure a half a million dollar grant to launch Drake’s Refugee Clinic. This Clinic now provides 2^nd and 3^rd year law students the opportunity to represent non-citizens for asylum and other forms of humanitarian relief. The clinic and Prof. Pritchett’s work has provided meaningful experiences for nearly 50 law students and served over 60 clients, some of whom have been Drake international students and employees. Because of the tremendous impact the clinic has had, it was recently awarded a $1M grant by the Iowa Bureau of Refugee Services to provide representation and legal service to the nearly 1K Afghan refugees who live in Iowa.

Her work and passion go beyond the classroom and the clinic. Professor Pritchett has created volunteer experiences for students to work with green car holders to apply for naturalization. As the director of our externship program, she trains all students taking internships for credit in multicultural lawyering. She is also currently helping explore a collaboration with Drake’s partner university in Uganda, Makerere University Business School, to train faculty in experiential pedagogy and to help them develop a Business Clinic as part of their curriculum.

In the words of her nominator: “Talking about global human rights in the classroom is one thing. But when a student is sitting across from someone who has escaped persecution in their country and is desperately trying not to be sent back, they will never forget it and their perspective is forever altered. Those transformative experiences happen every day in our clinic and in other settings because Suzie Pritchett has created them. She believes so strongly both in the power of this type of education and in the public service we provide to those in need, who truly have no other place to turn. She is the quintessential global citizen and is helping to create dozens more of them every year.”

— Kaiya Kielb Young, Senior, Arts & Sciences

Kieran Williams, associate professor and co-chair of the Department of Political Science, has co-edited a collection of essays on the Czech writer-statesman Václav Havel. Each chapter focuses on a keyword closely associated with Havel’s thought – such as truth, power, responsibility – and what it tells us about the enduring meaning of his work and life in our time. Contributors were recruited by Williams and his co-editor, David Danaher (University of Wisconsin-Madison) from a range of disciplines and from around the world; Williams himself wrote two of the chapters. Williams’s 2016 biography of Havel recently appeared in a Turkish translation.

Please welcome us in congratulating Drake senior, Tyler Bartolome, for being announced as a George J. Mitchell Scholar, Class of 2025.

Overseen by the U.S.-Ireland Alliance, the Mitchell Scholarship has become one of the country’s most prestigious postgraduate awards. This year, about 350 applicants competed for the 12 scholarships, which cover educational expenses for a year of graduate study—including all tuition, room and board and a monthly stipend to cover living expenses at one of several participating universities in Ireland and Northern Ireland. Tyler is planning to study Biotechnology at University College Cork.

Tyler’s Accomplishments

Originally from Lincoln, Neb., Tyler is currently a Drake senior and an impressive quadruple major studying Biochemistry, Cell & Molecular Biology; Mathematics; Biology; and Chemistry. He is interested in using biotechnology research and international public policy to address climate change, and he won a highly competitive Barry Goldwater Scholarship for his research and academic achievements.

Tyler also led Drake University’s Semi-Passive Algae Rooted Carbon Caption (SPARCC) team to compete in the international OpenAir Carbon Removal Challenge, where they were the sole U.S. team in the finals. He conducted successful biotechnology research as an undergraduate at the University Nebraska-Lincoln, Drake University, and Johns Hopkins University. As the first two-term President of the Drake Chapter of Beta Beta Beta, an honor society for the biological sciences, Tyler and his team doubled the size and funding of the organization.

Tyler is also President and Founder of The Oral Record Institute, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that collects and curates “oral histories” of individuals who have experienced military conflict, to better understand the effect that major historical events have on individuals. In his free time, he trains for triathlons, studies Arabic, and plays the mandolin.

To learn more about the George J. Mitchell class of 2025 here.

Professor of Biology Thomas Rosburg was among 16 of Iowa’s premiere scientists featured in the recently published book “Tending Iowa’s Land: Pathways to a Sustainable Future.” Tending Iowa’s Land, which was edited by Cornelia Mutel and published by the University of Iowa Press, was awarded first place for non-fiction nature by the Midwest Independent Publishers Association for 2023. The book is organized around four sections that speak to the environmental challenges we face in the degradation of soil health, the deterioration of water quality,  global climate change, and the loss of biodiversity. Professor Rosburg’s contribution was a chapter entitled “Iowa’s Rich Biodiversity Legacy: A Vision for the Future”.  Learn more about the book.

Brandi Miller, assistant director of new student programs in the Office of Financial Aid, has earned the FAAC designation from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators’ accredited Certified Financial Aid Administrator (CFAA) Program.

Brandi joins the ranks of an elite group of almost 500 other financial aid professionals from across the country who earned the FAAC designation after successfully demonstrating industry-related experience, passing a comprehensive knowledge exam, and affirming commitment to the standards for ethical behavior that have long been a hallmark of the financial aid profession.

The FAAC designation indicates that Brandi possesses the foundational knowledge and skills to effectively administer Title IV federal student aid programs at colleges and universities across the country as a financial aid professional. It is also evident of Brandi’s hard work and commitment to Drake and the financial aid industry.

Please join me in congratulating Brandi on this major accomplishment.

— Adam Voigts, Chief Financial Officer 

Thomas Rosburg, professor of biology, was one of six Iowans recently honored as an Iowa Nature Champion at the Iowa Nature Summit, held at Drake University Nov. 16 and 17. The award, which was given for the first time at the Summit, recognizes individuals for their lifetime contribution to protecting nature, advocating for nature and educating others about nature.

Professor Rosburg has taught courses in ecology, botany, statistics, Iowa natural history, and nature photography for 27 years. Students in his courses learn about nature by being in nature on field trips to many places in Iowa and nearby states. He has been awarded over $1.9 million for studies in plant ecology. His work has resulted in 150 scientific papers and reports, 220 scientific presentations, and contributed material to 7 books. Professor Rosburg’s passion and knowledge has made him a popular advocate for nature. He has made over 425 public presentations to Iowans of all ages all across the state.

Professor Rosburg established the Drake Prairie Rescue and Restoration Program in 2004. Since then, more than 300 students have contributed 3,450 hours to prairie and savanna restoration on 66 sites in 22 counties for 55 landowners. Professor Rosburg has donated nearly 2,000 hours to Drake Prairie Rescue.

“Much of what I do every day can be regarded as education, whether it’s in a classroom, leading a field trip, writing a report or paper, making a presentation, consulting with a client, mentoring a student in research, or taking students on a camping and prairie rescue adventure. Therein lies both my proudest work and my hope for the future. It’s the legacy of knowledge bound by love and respect for nature. Hopefully anyone who spends time with me will likewise be infected with the utmost awe and reverence for nature as well as the moral duty to defend it.”