09
July
2018
|
14:46 PM
America/New_York

The Ohio State University announces summer commencement speaker

Alan Michaels is dean of the Moritz College of Law

Alan Michaels

Alan C. Michaels, dean of the Moritz College of Law, will deliver The Ohio State University’s summer commencement address. Approximately 1,500 degrees will be awarded at the ceremony, which begins at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 5, at the Jerome Schottenstein Center.

Michaels, the Edwin M. Cooperman Chair in Law, joined Ohio State in 1995 and has served as dean since 2008. In June, he announced plans to conclude his term as dean in June 2019 and return to the faculty. The College of Law has thrived during his decade of service as dean, with many innovative programs contributing to nationally leading outcomes for graduates and record-breaking fundraising powering both access and nationally acclaimed research. Over the last three years, he has also co-taught a course entitled The Civil Rights Movement and the Supreme Court with Ohio State University President Michael V. Drake.

“It is my pleasure to announce Moritz College of Law Dean Alan Michaels as our speaker for the 419th commencement ceremony,” said President Drake. “A friend, colleague and instructor to many across Buckeye Nation, Dean Michaels has devoted more than 20 years to advancing academic and research excellence at Ohio State. His commitment to expanding pathways to an exemplary and affordable legal education represents the very best qualities of our university’s founding land-grant mission. I am confident his message will resonate among our graduates as they embark to change this world for the better.”

Michaels graduated from Harvard College magna cum laude in 1983 and from Columbia University School of Law in 1986.

Following graduation from law school, he clerked for Chief Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and then Associate Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Michaels spent three years in private practice representing the Major League Baseball Players Association and then served for four years as a prosecutor in New York County before joining Ohio State. From 2001 to 2003, he served Moritz as associate dean for faculty and also has been a visiting professor at the University of Michigan.

Michaels’ research, primarily in the area of the criminal intent in crimes and in the adjudicatory portion of criminal procedure, has been published in a variety of leading journals, including the Columbia Law Review, the Harvard Law Review and the Southern California Law Review.

He is co-author with Professors Joshua Dressler and Ric Simmons of Understanding Criminal Procedure (4th edition) and serves as co-managing editor of the Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law. Michaels was the recipient of the 1998-99 Outstanding Scholarly Paper Award from the Association of American Law Schools. He was chosen as the Outstanding Professor by the graduating classes of 1999 and 2000.

Michaels has taught courses in criminal law, sports law, white-collar crime and criminal procedure: adjudication.

Also during the ceremony, John C. “Jack” Fisher, former executive vice president of the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation Inc. and former university trustee, will receive the university’s Distinguished Service Award.