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Law 2025: MELANIE D. WILSON
DEAN AND ROY L. STEINHEIMER JR. PROFESSOR OF LAW, WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, LEXINGTON
Virginia Business //September 2, 2025//
Law 2025: MELANIE D. WILSON
DEAN AND ROY L. STEINHEIMER JR. PROFESSOR OF LAW, WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, LEXINGTON
Virginia Business //September 2, 2025//
Before entering academia, Wilson clerked for a federal district court judge and practiced for 13 years in both the private and public sectors. For six years, she served as an assistant U.S. attorney. She also worked as assistant attorney general for the state of Georgia for four years.
Dean of Washington and Lee’s law school since 2022, Wilson writes and teaches about criminal procedure, focusing on the Fourth Amendment, the Sixth Amendment and prosecutors. Previously, she was dean at the University of Tennessee’s Winston College of Law. Earlier, at the University of Kansas School of Law, Wilson served as associate dean for academic affairs and director of diversity and inclusion.
Wilson is the immediate past president of the Association of American Law Schools.
At the University of Georgia, Wilson played on the 1986 Southeastern Conference championship women’s golf team. After earning a journalism degree in Athens, Wilson stuck with UGA for law school.
U.S. News & World Report ranked Washington and Lee’s law school 36th in its 2025 Best Law Schools list.
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