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Professor Cynthia Godsoe teaches family and criminal law, has led several key fellowship programs, and is often quoted by prominent media outlets who call upon her legal expertise. This academic year, effective July 1, she assumes an important new role focused on the scholarly talents of the Law School’s faculty as associate dean of research and scholarship.  

A member of the tenure-track faculty since 2013, Godsoe promises to bring a host of exciting ideas about ways to bolster support for the Law School’s faculty research and intellectual life informed by her experience as a prolific scholar, longtime co-Director of the Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Law Fellowship and Director of the Family Law and Policy Fellowship programs. She is also an active leader and mentor in the broader academic community, and her scholarship focuses on the intersections of family and criminal law, particularly as to the carceral state’s regulation of communities.  

Godsoe said she plans to expand upon the work of her predecessor and criminal law faculty colleague, Professor Jocelyn Simonson, who held the position for the past three years.  

“I am so excited for the role, because our faculty scholarship is so strong,” Godsoe said. “Professor Simonson has done a great deal of work in building up the infrastructure for our scholarly work and research, and from here, I would like to build it out even more, especially for our junior or emerging scholars.” 

Godsoe plans to help shine an even brighter light on the scholarly expertise of the Law School’s faculty, which is already well illuminated among its peers nationwide. Most recently, there was the Top 100 Legal Scholars ranking, which, with two of our scholars on the list, placed the school in a tie for sixth place in the nation. Another important honor was the triennial Scholarly Impact Ranking for U.S. law schools, also called the Sisk ranking, which placed ӣ����Ƶ at No. 29 nationally. 

To help support a lively community of scholars, Godsoe would like to make sure the faculty mentorship program within the school becomes more robust and that there are opportunities to build collaborations with other law schools. She would like to work with professors to ensure that faculty scholarship is highlighted more on the school’s social media platforms and through other methods of recognition, such as awards within the school, perhaps in areas such as “best scholarship” or “best article.” 

She also hopes to spotlight the school’s centers, which provide a rich source of programming and elevate faculty scholarship to the broader community.