The School of Law honored four faculty members, who will retire from Akron Law at the end of spring semester, this past Thursday, April 25. The four have contributed immensely to the character of the law school, and their contributions were memorialized in personal tributes shared with the attendees of colleagues, alumni, community members and students. As interim dean Elizabeth Reilly summed it up: “Each has left an indelible mark on this law school. They may be leaving our halls, but they will never leave our hearts.”
Professor Richard L. Aynes has been with the School of Law for 37 years. He earned Bachelor and Juris Doctor degrees from Miami University and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law before joining The University of Akron School of Law in 1976 as coordinator of the Appellate Review Office and a Lecturer. He was Associate Dean from 1984 – 1993 and has held the rank of Professor since 1986. He served as UA’s interim athletics director in 1993-94 and returned to Akron Law where he held the John F. Seiberling Chair of Constitutional Law for the balance of 1994. Professor Aynes was appointed Dean of Akron Law in 1995, a position he held through 2007. Beginning in spring 2008 he returned to the faculty as holder of the John F. Seiberling Chair of Law and Director of the Constitutional Law Center. For Aynes’ full bio, visithttp://www.uakron.edu/law/faculty/profile.dot?identity=687625 .
Professor J. Dean Carro joined the law school 35 years ago after he graduated from the School of Law in 1978. He is currently the Dean’s Club Professor of Law, Professor of Clinical Education, Director of the Appellate Review Office and Director of the Legal Clinic. He received his B.A., cum laude, from State University of New York at New Paltz. Professor Carro teaches Clinical Seminar: Criminal Law, Appellate Advocacy, Trial Advocacy, and Criminal Procedure. His areas of research include prisoner civil rights actions, post-conviction (state and federal), criminal and appellate (state and federal). He is admitted to practice in Ohio and before the U.S. Supreme Court; the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio; and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. For Carro’s complete bio, visit http://www.uakron.edu/law/faculty/profile.dot?identity=687943 .
Professor Margery M. Koosed has been with the School of Law for 39 years. She is the Aileen McMurray Trusler Professor Emeritus at the School of Law. Her writing focuses on death penalty litigation issues. She teaches Criminal Law, Constitutional Criminal Procedure, and seminars in criminal process, capital punishment litigation and mistaken convictions. Professor Koosed received her B.S., cum laude, from Miami University and J.D. from Case Western Reserve University. A member of the Akron Law faculty since 1974, she served initially as a Lecturer in Law and Coordinator of the Appellate Review/Legal Clinical Program, and later as a Visiting Professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. For Koosed’s complete bio, visit http://www.uakron.edu/law/faculty/profile.dot?identity=692083 .
Professor Paul Richert, who is also the law librarian, joined the law school 36 years ago in 1977. He received his A.B. and M.S. at the University of Illinois and J.D. at Tulane University. He focuses his research on legal research topics and currently teaches international human rights. His professional memberships include the American Association of Law Libraries, the American Bar Association and the Akron Bar Association. Professor Richert created and maintains the Law Scout Web site, which is a database that links to legal pathfinders at about 100 law schools. For Richert’s complete bio, visit http://www.uakron.edu/law/faculty/profile.dot?identity=700375 .
Photos of the Retirement Celebration may be viewed at http://www.uakron.edu/law/photos/slideshow.dot?albumId=5872375084455077041& .