Peruse the map of the country, and you can find hundreds of courthouses scattered across the map — from the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., to the Old Courthouse on downtown Knoxville’s Main Street.
But most attorneys cannot boast to be paid defenders of the United States.
As a former prosecutor and assistant attorney general of Georgia, Melanie Wilson is now preparing for her newly appointed position as the dean of UT’s College of Law.
Since 2007, Wilson has held her current position as the associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, trading her efforts in the courtroom to nourish minds in a classroom.
A key component of her philosophy on successful legal education is exposure to experiential learning — something she said she finds more students “clamor” for as part of their legal education.
Such experience-based learning, she said, also provides for a smoother transition into the legal profession post-graduation.
“I think [the students] enjoy it and it gives them confidence, too,” Wilson said. “So when they’re out and they have their own clients, they know how to do it and I think that really bridges the gap that otherwise would be something they just learn about, but not do.”
Packaged as a dedicated educator alongside her career in civil law and criminal procedure, UT law professor Alex Long noted Wilson’s variety of experience was what made her an ideal candidate for succeeding current dean Doug Blaze.
“We wanted someone who was an excellent teacher, good scholar and public servant,” Long said. “We wanted somebody who we thought would bring some new ideas to the law college. We wanted somebody who was extremely interested in helping our students get ready for the practice of law.”
A Southerner herself, Wilson said her impending move to Knoxville will be an exciting one as she plans to embrace a new city and a “talented and strong” faculty.
“I think it’s important for me to learn as much as I can about (the culture) first, and then decide how can I help support all of those good works,” she said. “How I can push the faculty to do even more … how can the law school be the best part of the university that it can, how can we do outreach to the community, how can we really make alumni feel part of the community and want to come back to the university to watch and mentor students?”
