Embracing our global footprint
Emory Law is rightfully proud of its history. After emerging as a leader in the South, we built a national reputation based on an exceptional faculty, and a diverse and gifted student body.
This issue focuses on our expanding global footprint. Emory Law’s partnerships with City University of Hong Kong and Shanghai Jiao Tong University continue to benefit all parties. In June, another class of Chinese judges spent a month here to study US constitutional and criminal law, the rules of evidence, and the role of courts and judges in shaping the Rule of Law.
Our professors’ research extends across the globe. Professors Margo Bagley and Nicole Morris are both involved in valuable exploratory efforts in Africa. Their combination of health and IP law illustrates how law can be both proactive and altruistic. Margo’s work centers on establishing better and more transparent patent law standards to allow developing countries to benefit from both natural resources and intellectual property. Another of the project’s goals is to halt the sale of counterfeit medicines, which she says is a huge problem in parts of Africa and Asia.
Nicole, who is also director of our TI:GER program, works with the Advancing Healthcare in Africa Initiative (AHIA). It connects Emory University’s medical resources to the law school’s IP knowledge, to educate African scientists on the business and legal aspects of healthcare. She attended AHIA’s conference in Johannesburg this summer. The organization aims to help scientists commercialize technologies to address often-neglected conditions such as infant jaundice, HIV, and breast cancer. Nicole’s knowledge of patent law is informed by years of practice as an intellectual property attorney.
Recent alumnus Keong Min Yoon 16L writes about his work with the World Bank, which involves helping the institution keep pace with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and more. All have the potential to disrupt the world’s increasingly interdependent economies. They also present new legal questions. “Every day, I pave new ground,” he says. He also adds, “My education made this possible.” One of several professors he praises for teaching him how to “think like a lawyer” is Frank Alexander, who retired this spring after 37 years of teaching at the law school. It is always gratifying to see a student affirm that great teachers matter.
Which reminds me: find Emory Law’s YouTube Channel (youtube.com/EmorySchoolofLaw) and watch Frank’s surprise goodbye, where hundreds of students saluted him as he and his wife Joan made their way through Gambrell Hall after Frank taught his final class. It moved me, and I suspect that it will move you, too.
James B. Hughes Jr.
Interim Dean
