Professor Seplowitz Named Bruce K. Gould Distinguished Professor of Law

Rena C. Seplowitz was recently named the Bruce K. Gould Distinguished Professor of Law at Touro Law Center in celebration of her achievements in teaching and service to the law center. She is the third professor and second woman at Touro Law to hold this distinction. The Distinguished professorship was first awarded in 1994 to Professor Barbara Swartz. In 2008 it was awarded to Professor Richard Klein who stepped down this year after 38 years of teaching. A special ceremony will be held this Fall to celebrate this occasion.

 

“Professor Seplowitz is an outstanding member of the Touro Law faculty who has dedicated her career to teaching and service for the betterment of the Touro Law community,” stated Elena B. Langan, Dean and Professor of Law. “She has been elected Professor of the Year several times by various Touro Law graduating classes for her commitment to student success. She is a valued member of the faculty and I am pleased she is being recognized with this distinguished honor.”  

 

Rena C. Seplowitz has been a Professor of Law at Touro Law Center since 1984. She graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Barnard College and received her J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and Articles Editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems. Admitted to the bars of New York and the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, Professor Seplowitz spent a number of years in private practice with the New York City law firm of Kaye, Scholer where she specialized in litigation primarily in the intellectual property and estates areas and represented many pro bono clients.

 

At Touro, Professor Seplowitz teaches Property, Honors Trusts and Estates, Trusts and Estates, Intellectual Property, Copyright Law, Trademark Law and Advanced Trademark Law, and is the long-time faculty advisor to the Touro Law Review. She participated in an exchange program with Netanya Law School where she delivered a paper on the underprotection of applied art and industrial design. She served for many years as an associate editor of the ABA’s Real Property, Probate & Trust Journal and as the coach of a high school Mock Trial team participating in the New York State Mock Trial competition and is involved in community activities and organizations. Her research interests and publications focus mainly on family protection at death and intellectual property protection for applied art and industrial design.

 

In 2018, Professor Seplowitz received the Touro College Presidential Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching. She has also received the Touro Law Center’s Professor of the Year Award and the Touro Law Teaching Award.

 

Professor Seplowitz stated, “I am very honored to be selected as the next Bruce K. Gould Distinguished Professor of Law and grateful to Bruce for endowing this Chair. Barbara Swartz and Richard Klein were instrumental in creating a vibrant law school community. I look forward to continuing to work with our students, faculty, and administration to foster academic excellence, intellectual development, and a commitment to service.”

 

Bruce K. Gould, a member of Touro Law's Class of 1984, served as President of the Student Bar Association, was a founding member and the second president of the Law Center’s Alumni Association, and continues to serve as an active member of the school's Board of Governors. He established the school's first endowed faculty chair, The Bruce K. Gould Distinguished Professor of Law, and created the Bruce K. Gould Book Award, a nationally recognized honor bestowed annually by the Law Center on the author of an outstanding publication in the legal field. He recently served as the Chair of the Law Center’s 40th Anniversary Campaign and Chairs the Touro College Board of Governors.

 

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Patti Desrochers

Director of Communications

pattid@tourolaw.edu

(631) 761-7062