Five Vanderbilt Law professors–Rebecca Haw Allensworth, Edward Cheng, Tracey George, Ingrid Wuerth and Yesha Yadav–received 2015 Hall-Hartman Awards for Outstanding Teaching at an awards presentation in Blackacre April 10.
Hall-Hartman Awards are based on a student poll administered by the student-led Vanderbilt Bar Association. Hall-Hartman Awards, which recognize excellent teaching, are given to one professor in each of Vanderbilt’s three first-year sections and to two professors in upper-level courses, with separate categories for large classes with 30 students or more and seminars with fewer than 30 students.
Hall-Hartman Awards are a longstanding Vanderbilt tradition recognizing faculty whose teaching is deemed outstanding in each first-year student section and for large and small upper-level elective courses. The awards are named in honor of former professors Donald J. Hall and Paul Hartman, both of whom spent their careers at Vanderbilt and were revered for their teaching.
“It is extremely hard to win a teaching award at Vanderbilt Law School because of the many outstanding teachers on our faculty,” Dean Chris Guthrie said. “Professors cherish this recognition because it comes directly from the students they’ve taught.”
Tracey George was honored for her first-year Contracts class by students in Section A. George holds the Charles B. Cox III and Lucy D. Cox Family Chair in Law and Liberty and directs the law school’s Branstetter Litigation and Dispute Resolution Program. 2015 is the fifth year in which George has been recognized by students with the Hall-Hartman Award.
Ingrid Wuerth was honored for her first-year Civil Procedure class by students in Section B. A leading scholar of foreign affairs and international law in domestic courts, Wuerth directs Vanderbilt’s International Legal Studies Program. She also received the Hall-Hartman Award in 2014.
Rebecca Haw Allensworth was honored by students in Section C for her first-year Contracts class. An associate professor of law, Allensworth studies antitrust law.
Edward Cheng, whose research and teaching focus on evidence law, was honored by upper-level students in the category of courses with 30 students or more for his Evidence course. Cheng holds the Tarkington Chair of Teaching Excellence, and this is the third year in which Cheng has received the Hall-Hartman Award.
Yesha Yadav, an associate professor whose research and teaching focus on financial and securities regulation, was honored for her International Financial Regulation course. Yadav worked as a legal counsel with the World Bank in its finance, private-sector development and infrastructure unit before joining the legal academy.