Professor Susan M. Wolf, JD, Chair
Carol Rachac, MA, Coordinator

Concentration Faculty from the Law School
Concentration Faculty from Outside the Law School

The University of Minnesota Law School faculty offers Concentrations, enabling Law students to specialize in fields such as Health Law & Bioethics and Human Rights Law.

The Concentration in Health Law & Bioethics allows students to focus their studies on health care delivery, public health law and ethics, international health, or bioethics. The Health Law & Bioethics concentration requires 12 credits, including a combination of required and recommended courses in the Law School, Graduate School, School of Public Health, and Center for Bioethics. Concentration faculty are drawn from across the University, including faculty from the Law School, School of Public Health, Medical School, and Center for Bioethics.

Core Faculty – Law School

Professor Stephen Befort is a national authority on labor and employment law. He teaches courses in labor law, employment law, employment discrimination, public employment, comparative labor and employment, and disability in the workplace. Professor Befort served as Director of the Law School's Clinic program from 1982 to 2003 and as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2000 to 2004. He was the Julius E. Davis Chair Professor of Law for 1993-94 and was appointed to the Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty, & Bennett Professorship in Law in 2003. Professor Befort has authored six books and more than 60 articles, book chapters, and published papers on labor and employment subjects.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/beforts.html

Professor Brian Bix joined the faculty in 2001. He teaches in the areas of jurisprudence, family law, and contract law. He holds a joint appointment with the Department of Philosophy. Professor Bix received his BA, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Washington University in St. Louis in 1983; his JD, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1986; and his DPhil in Law from Balliol College, Oxford University, in 1991. Professor Bix taught at Quinnipiac University School of Law, as Associate Professor (1995-1997) and Professor (1998-2001). He was a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center during the spring semester of 2000 and at George Washington University Law School in the fall of 1999. Professor Bix was the Lecturer in Jurisprudence and Legal Reasoning at King's College, University of London, from 1991 to 1993; he taught at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University, from 1989 to 1990. He was a law clerk for Justice Benjamin Kaplan at the Massachusetts Appeals Court (1993-95, while on leave from the King's College), and he also clerked for Judge Stephen Reinhardt, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1987-1988), and Justice Alan Handler, New Jersey Supreme Court (1986-1987). He is a member of the American Law Institute.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/bixb.html

Professor Dale Carpenter teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, the First Amendment, sexual orientation and the law, and commercial law. In 2007, he was appointed to the Earl R. Larson Chair in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Law. He was the Julius E. Davis Professor of Law for 2006-07 and the Vance K. Opperman Research Scholar for 2003-04. Professor Carpenter was chosen the Stanley V. Kinyon Teacher of the Year for 2003-04 and 2005-06 and was the Tenured Teacher of the Year for 2006-07. Since 2004, he has served as an editor of Constitutional Commentary. Professor Carpenter received his BA degree in history, magna cum laude, from Yale College in 1989. He received his JD, with honors, from the University of Chicago Law School in 1992. At the University of Chicago he was Editor-in-Chief of the University of Chicago Law Review. He received both the D. Francis Bustin Prize for excellence in legal scholarship and the John M. Olin Foundation Scholarship for Law & Economics.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/carpenterd.html

Professor Michele Bratcher Goodwin is the Everett Fraser Professor of Law. Professor Goodwin holds joint appointments in the Medical School and the School of Public Health. During 2007-08, she was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago Law School, where she edited her forthcoming book, Baby Markets. She also served as one of the distinguished Meador Lecturers at the University of Alabama during the 2007-08 academic year. Professor Goodwin began her teaching career in 2001 at DePaul University College of Law where she was the Wicklander Chair in Ethics and a professor of law. She directed the Health Law Institute and founded the Center for the Study of Race & Bioethics. At DePaul, Goodwin earned the Faculty Achievement Award, Outstanding Scholarship Award, the Humanities Fellowship, and was honored by the University President who selected her book as one of the two top publications of 2006. Professor Goodwin earned a BA from the University of Wisconsin, a JD from Boston College Law School, and an LLM from the University of Wisconsin.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit http://www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/goodwinm.html

Ralph Hall is currently serving as Distinguished Visiting Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota Law School. He teaches courses in negotiations, alternative dispute resolution, and food and drug law. Professor Hall is also Counsel to the Indianapolis, Indiana law firm of Baker & Daniels where he counsels clients in the area of drug and medical device regulation. Prior to his association with the University of Minnesota Law School, Professor Hall served in various capacities with Guidant Corporation including Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel–Litigation and Compliance, and General Counsel of the Cardiac Rhythm Management group. During this time, Professor Hall also served as Special Counsel to the Guidant Board of Directors Compliance Committee and as Counsel to the Guidant Chief Compliance Officer. Prior to joining Guidant, he was with Eli Lilly, including serving as the head of Lilly's worldwide environmental law group. Professor Hall received his BA from Indiana University in 1974 and his JD from the University of Michigan where he was a Weymouth Kirkland Scholar. Professor Hall's interests include FDA regulation, negotiations and ADR, intellectual asset management, and the interface between corporate practice and the academic world.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/hallr.html

Professor Jill Hasday teaches and writes in the fields of anti-discrimination law, constitutional law, family law, legal history, and national security law. Her work has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, California Law Review, and UCLA Law Review. Professor Hasday received her BA from Yale University in 1994, graduating summa cum laude with distinction in history and winning election to Phi Beta Kappa. In 1997, Professor Hasday graduated from Yale Law School, where she was an articles editor of the Yale Law Journal and received honors in all graded courses. After law school, Professor Hasday clerked for Judge Patricia M. Wald of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Professor Hasday joined the University of Minnesota Law School as a tenured faculty member in 2005, after teaching at the University of Chicago Law School.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/hasdayj.html

Professor Bradley C. Karkkainen is a nationally recognized authority in the fields of environmental and natural resources law. After visiting at the University of Minnesota in the fall of 2003, Professor Karkkainen joined the University of Minnesota faculty in January 2004 at the rank of Professor. He held the Julius E. Davis Chair in Law in 2004. Professor Karkkainen teaches courses in environmental law, international environmental law, natural resources law, water law, land use, property, administrative law, and regulatory theory. He is the author of numerous monographs, book chapters, and articles in leading legal and social science journals. His research centers on innovative strategies for environmental regulation and natural resources management, with an emphasis on mechanisms that promote continuous adaptive learning, flexibility, transparency, and policy integration.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit http://local.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/karkkainenb.htm

Professor Alexandra B. Klass teaches and writes in the areas of environmental law, natural resources law, tort law and property law. Her articles have appeared in Iowa Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, University of Colorado Law Review, and Ecology Law Quarterly, among others. Prior to her teaching career, Professor Klass was a partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP in Minneapolis, where she specialized in environmental law and land use cases. During her years in private practice from 1993-2004, she handled cases in federal and state trial and appellate courts in Minnesota and other states involving contaminated property, wetlands, environmental review law, environmental rights law, zoning, eminent domain, and environmental torts. She continues to represent clients pro bono in cases involving environmental law and land use matters. She was an Associate Professor of Law at William Mitchell College of Law from 2004-06.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit http://www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/klassa.html

Professor Amy Monahan is a 2008-09 Visiting Professor at the University of Minnesota Law School. Professor Monahan joined the faculty at the University of Missouri School of Law in 2004, after having taught at Notre Dame Law School and serving as a visiting scholar at the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture. Prior to beginning her teaching career, Professor Monahan practiced law with Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago. While in law school, she was the Managing Editor of the Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law. Professor Monahan's scholarly work has appeared in such journals as the Illinois Law Review, Tulane Law Review, and Virginia Tax Review. She currently serves as the Chair-Elect of the Association of American Law Schools' Section on Employee Benefits. She teaches Basic Federal Income Taxation, Employee Benefits Law, Partnership Taxation, and Taxation of Property Transactions. Prof. Monahan earned her BA from Johns Hopkins University and JD from Duke University School of Law.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit www.law.missouri.edu/faculty/directory/monahana.html

Professor Ruth Okediji is a leading authority on international intellectual property law. After visiting at the University of Minnesota in 2001, Professor Okediji joined the Minnesota faculty in the 2002-03 academic year. She served on the faculty at the University of Oklahoma College of Law from 1994 to 2002, where she held the Edith Kinney Gaylord Presidential Professorship. Professor Okediji's scholarship focuses primarily on international intellectual property issues with an emphasis on the relationship between multilateral trade law and intellectual property policy. Her work addresses the relationship between developing and developed countries in the international intellectual property system, including economic analysis of the bargaining strategies that facilitate harmonization of intellectual property rights.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/okedijir.html

Adjunct Associate Professor Jordan Paradise, JD, is the Associate Director of Research & Education for the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences and the Joint Degree Program in Law, Health & the Life Sciences. She is also a Research Associate in the Center for Bioethics and the Faculty Editor-in-Chief of the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology (MJLST). She received her BS from the University of Michigan and her JD from Chicago-Kent College of Law. She worked previously as a Research Fellow at the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute for Science, Law and Technology in Chicago. Her current research focuses on the legal and policy implications of emerging technologies including genetics and nanotechnology. She is a Co-Principal Investigator on the Consortium's National Science Foundation grant on Evaluating Oversight Models for Active Nanostructures and Nanosystems. She has authored numerous articles published in journals such as Science, Nature Reviews Genetics, The Food and Drug Law Journal, and Yale Journal of Health, Policy, Law & Ethics.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit www.lifesci.consortium.umn.edu/people/bio.jordan.paradise.php

Professor Daniel Schwarcz writes and teaches in the fields of insurance law, contract law, tort law, and commercial law. Prior to joining the faculty in 2007, he spent two years as a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. During that time, his research primarily focused on how legal doctrines and regulatory bodies can most effectively protect purchasers of insurance policies. Prof. Schwarcz received an AB from Amherst College, and JD from Harvard Law School.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, please visit www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/schwarczd.html

Clinical Professor Kathryn J. Sedo is an authority on cooperative law. She teaches clinics in the areas of tax law, general practice, workers' compensation, and disability law. Professor Sedo received her AB degree and JD degree, cum laude, from the University of Michigan. After graduating from law school, she practiced law with the firm of Sedo and Darnton in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She joined the clinical faculty of the University of Minnesota Law School in 1979. She has been an adjunct professor at Madonna College. In addition, she has taught at the Université Jean Moulin in Lyon, France, and the University of Uppsala in Sweden. Since 1984, Professor Sedo has represented worker and consumer cooperatives in the Upper Midwest. She is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association and the American Bar Association Taxation Section.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, please visit www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/sedok.html

Professor David S. Weissbrodt is a distinguished and widely published scholar of international human rights law. He teaches international human rights law, administrative law, immigration law, and torts. In 2005, he was appointed as the first Regents Professor at the Law School. He has been the Fredrikson and Byron Professor of Law since 1998. He was the Briggs and Morgan Professor of Law for 1989-97 and the Julius E. Davis Professor of Law for 1985-86. Professor Weissbrodt attended Columbia University and the London School of Economics. He received his JD degree from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall), where he was Note and Comment Editor of the California Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. After graduation, he clerked for Justice Mathew O. Tobriner of the California Supreme Court and practiced law with Covington & Burling. He joined the University of Minnesota Law School faculty in 1975 and has been a Visiting Professor at the Université Jean Moulin in Lyon, France, and the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. He established the University of Minnesota Human Rights Center and helped establish the University of Minnesota Human Rights Library online. He has represented and served as an officer or board member of Amnesty International, the Center for Victims of Torture, the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Readers International, and the International League for Human Rights.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/weissbrodtd.html

Professor Susan M. Wolf is the McKnight Presidential Professor of Law, Medicine & Public Policy; the Faegre & Benson Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School; Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School; and a Faculty Member in the University's Center for Bioethics. She is also founding Director of the University's Joint Degree Program in Law, Health & the Life Sciences and founding Chair of the University's Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences. She received her AB summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1975 and her JD from Yale Law School in 1980, with graduate work at Harvard University. After clerking for a federal judge and practicing law for several years at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York, in 1984 she became a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellow and then Associate for Law at The Hastings Center, a not-for-profit research institute specializing in biomedical ethics. She also taught law and medicine at New York University Law School for six years as an Adjunct Associate Professor. She was a Fellow in the Program in Ethics and the Professions at Harvard University in 1992-93, before joining the University of Minnesota faculty in the Fall of 1993.

Prof. Wolf teaches in the areas of law and science, law and medicine, and bioethics. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF), among others. She has published over 100 articles, chapters, and books, and lectures widely.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit www.lifesci.consortium.umn.edu/people/bio.susan.wolf.php

Professor Judith T. Younger is recognized for her professional work in the areas of wills and trusts and family law. She teaches courses in wills and trusts, property, and family law. In 1991, Professor Younger became the Joseph E. Wargo Anoka County Bar Association Professor of Family Law. Professor Younger received a BS degree from Cornell University, where she also received the Borden Award for highest class standing, and the Daniel Alpern Award for leadership and scholarship. She earned a JD degree from New York University School of Law, where she was Survey Editor of the New York University Law Review and a member of the Order of the Coif. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable Edward Weinfeld of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. She then practiced in the litigation department of Chadbourne, Parke, Whiteside & Wolff; was a partner in her own law firm; and became an Assistant Attorney General of the State of New York.

For a list of publications and a complete bio, visit www.law.umn.edu/facultyprofiles/youngerj.html

Concentration Core Faculty—Outside the Law School
Click on each name for access to faculty bio and publications.

Prof. Dianne Bartels, RN, MA, PhD Associate Director and Assistant Professor, Center for Bioethics Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School

Prof. Muriel Bebeau, PhD Professor, Department of Primary Dental Care, School of Dentistry Director for the Center for the Study of Ethical Development Adjunct Professor, Department of Educational Psychology Faculty Associate, Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota

Prof. Debra DeBruin, PhD Director of Education and Assistant Professor, Center for Bioethics Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School

Prof. Carl Elliott, MD, PhD Professor, Center for Bioethics Professor, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota Medical School Professor, Department of Philosophy, College of Liberal Arts

Prof. John Eyler, PhD Program Director and Director of Graduate Studies, History of Medicine

Prof. Jennifer L. Gunn, PhD Director of Undergraduate Studies History of Medicine

Prof. Sarah Holtman, PhD, JD Director of Graduate Studies, Philosophy

Prof. William D. Hueston, DVM, PhD Adjunct Professor, EpiCH Professor & Director, Center for Animal Health & Food Safety, Department of Clincial & Population Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine Division of Epidemiology & Community Health

Prof. Susan D. Jones, PhD, DVM Associate Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior

Prof. Jeffrey P. Kahn, PhD, MPH Director and Professor, Maas Family Endowed Chair in Bioethics, Center for Bioethics Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School

Prof. Rosalie Kane, DSW Professor, Division of Health Services Research and Policy, School of Public Health Member of the Graduate Faculty, School of Social Work, University of Minnesota

Prof. Barbara Koenig, PhD Professor Medicine, Mayo College of Medicine Faculty Associate, Center for Bioethics, University of Minnesota

Prof. Joan Liaschenko, RN, PhD, FAAN Professor, Center for Bioethics Professor, School of Nursing

Prof. Mary Faith Marshall, PhD Professor, Center for Bioethics Associate Dean for Social Medicine and Medical Humanities Director, Center for Arts and Medicine Professor, Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School

Prof. Michelle Mason, PhD Philosophy

Prof. Steven H. Miles, MD Professor, Center for Bioethics Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School

Prof. Michael T. Osterholm, PhD, MPH Director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) Director, Minnesota Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (MCEIRS) Professor, Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health Adjunct Professor, Medical School

Prof. Ed Ratner, MD Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, University of Minnesota.

Prof. John Song, MD, MPH, MAT Assistant Professor, Center for Bioethics Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School

Prof. Valerie Tiberius, PhD Director of Undergraduate Studies, Philosophy

Prof. Maryam Valapour, MD Assistant Professor, Center for Bioethics Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School

Prof. Beth A. Virnig, PhD, MPH Associate Professor, Division of Health Services Research and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota