Patti Alleva Announces Retirement after 2018-19 Academic Year

Upcoming academic year 2018-19 will mark Patti Alleva’s thirty-second as a professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law. She recently decided, with a heavy heart, to make that year her last in that capacity.  

“Wrenching” is the word she uses to describe her decision given her love of teaching, learning, the law — and North Dakota. “I almost can’t imagine leaving the law school,” Professor Alleva explained, “but I know my experiences here will be a conscious part of me always. For that, I am extremely grateful.”

A multi-award-winning teacher, Professor Alleva is one of only 26 law professors featured in the book What the Best Law Teachers Do (Harvard University Press 2013). Much of her work — lived and published — has focused on legal education reform to improve student learning and the value of self-reflective practice. Professor Alleva has promoted these ends both locally and nationally. Her curricular projects at the law school have included two pioneering courses designed to develop professional self- and other-awareness, well-rounded professional judgment, and respect for learning as a professional skill — all neglected aspects of traditional legal education. She has also led the law school’s Faculty Development efforts to study and capitalize upon the latest theories and research supporting effective teaching and learning. Relatedly, Professor Alleva has worked to promote mindfulness in judicial decision-making through law and literature seminars with both state and federal judges, using the unique power of literature to explore the human condition and the challenging social justice issues of the day.

Stay tuned, in the coming year, for more about Professor Alleva’s future path and her distinguished career to date as a nationally-recognized teacher, scholar and legal education innovator. A reception in Professor Alleva's honor will be held this Fall during the School of Law's Homecoming festivities on September 21-22, 2018. Details to follow.