RALEIGH – Campbell Law Associate Professor Sarah Ludington will begin serving the institution as associate dean of academic affairs effective July 1. A respected scholar in the fields of free speech and privacy law, Ludington’s work has examined the implications of tenure for the speech of professors and methods for deterring the misuse of personally identifiable information. She has also co-authored articles about the history of sovereign debt repudiation and the doctrine of odious debts. Most recently, she published a chapter on the history of USDA farm and food subsidies in Food Fights: How the Past Matters in Contemporary Food Debates (UNC Press 2017).
As associate dean for academic affairs, Ludington will serve as the chief academic officer within the law school, reporting directly to the dean. She will be responsible for addressing all academic matters, for scheduling classes, and for securing adjunct faculty.
Current associate dean and professor Tim Zinnecker, who has served in that capacity for five and a half years, will remain a full-time active teaching member of the Campbell Law faculty. During the upcoming academic year he is scheduled to teach the first-year contracts course and the required upper-level secured transactions course.
“Dean Zinnecker is the hardest working person in this building, and handles enormous responsibilities without fuss or fanfare,” said Campbell Law Dean J. Rich Leonard. “I am not sure I would have survived my first years as dean without his steady presence.
“Professor Ludington is a renowned scholar, a demanding teacher, and a creative problem solver. She is the obvious choice to replace Dean Zinnecker, and I look forward to working together.”
Ludington, who was granted tenure by the university in 2015, has taught in the summer study abroad program that Campbell Law co-sponsors in Cambridge, England. She has also lectured on American constitutional law at University College Cork in Ireland and at the Duke-Geneva Institute in Transnational Law. She will continue to teach courses in constitutional law, information privacy, and civil procedure. Ludington is delighted to be assuming the role of associate dean.
“It is an exciting time for Campbell Law School,” said Ludington. “We are growing in size and reputation and have a great leader in Dean Leonard. Our goal is to train practice-ready lawyers. To that end, I am committed to maintaining Campbell Law’s rigorous academic standards and to developing courses and programs that will enhance the training and preparation of our graduates.”
Prior to joining the Campbell Law faculty, Ludington taught legal writing at Duke Law School and practiced law in Washington, D.C. and New York. She held two federal clerkships, for Harry T. Edwards of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and for Joyce Hens Green of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. She also has significant experience teaching literature and writing in secondary schools.
Ludington received her law degree from Duke Law School with High Honors and was inducted into the Order of the Coif. She received the Hervey M. Johnson writing prize for best published note, was a note editor of the law journal, and received the American Jurisprudence Award for Constitutional Law.