Honoring Distinguished Faculty

Richmond Law is proud to recognize the recipients of this year’s Distinguished Educator Award and Distinguished Scholarship Award.

Professor Meredith Harbach received the 2023 Law Distinguished Educator Award. The faculty’s leader in the field of family law, Professor Harbach was lauded for her clarity and energy in the classroom, as well as her commitment to engaging individually with students. A member of the faculty since 2009, she chairs the school’s Family Law Certificate Program and plays an integral role in the first-year curriculum as a beloved teacher of Civil Procedure. Professor Harbach brings to all of this work a body of scholarship that analyzes the state’s relationship to families and children through the lens of America’s childcare law and policy.

Professor Kristen Osenga received the 2023 Law Distinguished Scholarship Award. A member of the law faculty for seventeen years, Professor Osenga currently holds the title of Austin E. Owen Research Scholar, and in 2022 became the law school’s Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. An expert in intellectual property law and information law, her work has appeared in some of the nation’s top legal and specialty journals, including the American University Law Review, George Mason Law Review, and George Washington Law Review. Most recently, Professor Osenga was named both an Academic Affiliate at the International Center for Law & Economics and a Senior Fellow for Innovation Policy at the Center for Intellectual Property & Innovation Policy (C-IP2) at George Mason Law.

“I am delighted to celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of my colleagues, both of whom are at the forefront of advancing legal education,” said Dean Wendy Perdue. “Professor Harbach champions inclusive pedagogies that promote equity in the classroom, and Professor Osenga's scholarship is shaping the legal discourse surrounding intellectual property and innovation.”

Congratulations to the honorees!