Professor Seplowitz Named Bruce K. Gould Distinguished Professor of Law

July 8, 2021

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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Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law is located adjacent to both a state and a federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York. Touro Law’s proximity to the courthouses, coupled with programming developed to integrate the courtroom into the classroom, provide a one-of-a kind learning experience for law students, combining a rigorous curriculum taught by expert faculty with a practical courtroom experience. Touro Law is dedicated to providing hands-on learning that enables students to gain experience while offering much-needed legal services in the community.

Touro Law, which has an alumni base of more than 6,500, offers full- and part-time JD programs where students can earn a degree in 2, 3 or 4 years and provides four areas of concentration Additionally, Touro offers a hybrid, four-year FlexTime JD Program combining online and on campus learning. Touro Law offers several dual degree programs and graduate law programs for US and foreign law graduates. Touro Law Center is part of the Touro College system.

About the Touro College and University System 
Touro is a system of non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was chartered in 1970 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American and global community. Approximately 18,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has 30 campuses and locations in New York, California, Nevada, Berlin, Jerusalem and Moscow. New York Medical College; Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus; Touro University Worldwide and its Touro College Los Angeles division; as well as Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Ill. are separately accredited institutions within the Touro College and University System. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/news/.

For more info contact:
Patti Desrochers
Director of Communications
pattid@tourolaw.edu
(631) 761-7062

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