Faculty & Staff Notes

Arrivals, departures, and promotions of Minnesota Law faculty and staff

Faculty Arrivals

Nadia Anguiano ’17 joined the Law School as associate clinical professor of law and director of the Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic. Anguiano was formerly the visiting assistant clinical professor of law and served as interim director of the Federal Immigration Clinic for 2022-23. She also served as an immigration legal fellow in the clinic from 2019-22. Prior to joining Minnesota Law, she worked as a law clerk for Judge Jane Kelly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and Judge Susan Richard Nelson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Nicholas Bednar ’16 joined the Law School as associate professor of law. Bednar recently completed his Ph.D. in Political Science at Vanderbilt University. His research and teaching interests include administrative law, legislation and regulation, public administration, and torts. He clerked for Chief Judge John Tunheim ’80 on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota and for Judge Tracy Smith ’88 on the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Alexander Boni-Saenz joined Minnesota Law as professor of law and Robins Kaplan Distinguished Scholar. Boni-Saenz was previously the associate dean for scholarship and faculty development, professor of law, and the Norman & Edna Freehling Scholar at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology. His scholarship focuses on age as a socio-legal category, legal issues in aging, and theoretical and doctrinal questions in inheritance law.

Sapna Kumar joined the Law School faculty as the Henry J. Fletcher Professor of Law. Before joining Minnesota Law, Kumar was the John Mixon Chair in Law at the University of Houston Law Center. She writes and teaches about international law and administrative law issues relating to patent rights.

Jack Whiteley joined the Law School as an associate professor of law. Whiteley was recently a fellow and supervising attorney in the Environmental Law and Justice Clinic at the Georgetown University Law Center. His research and teaching interests include property, environmental law, and evidence. Prior to his work at Georgetown, he was a law clerk to Judge Richard Clifton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and was a litigation associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.

Library Faculty Arrivals

Jacob Sayward joined Minnesota Law as the associate director of collection development in the Law Library. Prior to joining the Law School, Sayward served as the director for collections, faculty and scholarly services, and adjunct professor of law at the Cornell Law Library.

Staff Arrivals

Maureen Cunningham was hired as associate director of donor relations and stewardship. Prior to joining Minnesota Law, she was a manager of annual giving at Bethel University. She holds a B.S. in industrial engineering from Purdue and an M.A. in strategic leadership from Bethel University.

Kacey Davidson was hired as an associate development officer. Prior to joining Minnesota Law, she was a successful real estate agent with Edina Realty and First Weber.

Promotions

Kirsten Larsen was promoted to communications and events manager in the Office of Advancement. She was formerly the Advancement operations associate.

Paul Ogren was promoted to director of development in the Office of Advancement. He previ- ously served as a senior develop- ment officer.

Departures

Jonathan Choi departed the University of Minnesota Law School to join the faculty at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.

Kelly Mitchell departed the Law School’s Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice for a position as the assistant commissioner of community services and reentry with the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Mitchell served as the executive director of the Robina Institute since 2014.

Minnesota Law Magazine

Fall 2023
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