Oregon Law Announces Meritorious Service Award winner

Professor Megan McAlpin, Meritorious Service Award winner of 2022

As the highest award offered by the University of Oregon School of Law, the Meritorious Service Award is bestowed each year to both faculty and non-faculty members who have made exceptional contributions towards legal education or the legal profession.

This year, the school proudly announces that the recipient for this prestigious award is Clinical Professor and Director of Academic Excellence, Megan McAlpin.

Professor McAlpin is a past president of the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD). Currently, she is the inaugural director of Oregon Law’s Academic Excellence Program and a member of the ALWD Conference Site Committee and LWI Academic Support Committee. Professor McAlpin also served as a mentor for the 2021 ALWD Leadership Academy. Her book, Beyond the First Draft: Editing Strategies for Powerful Legal Writing, helps law students and lawyers approach the complicated work of editing their own writing.

In nominating Professor McAlpin, a colleague wrote, “I have witnessed up close the extraordinary effort put in by Professor McAlpin to create and establish the Academic Excellence Program at Oregon Law.” Her commitment towards the program was also noted by a colleague who wrote, “In my 22 years in higher ed, I have rarely seen such dedication to student success. This endeavor has been broad and deep, and almost single-handedly done by her.”

Her colleagues have witnessed her hard work and dedication; one of them stated, “I want to pause to thank Professor McAlpin for her work as the inaugural director of our Academic Excellence Program. We’ve had many efforts throughout the years to support students, and Professor McAlpin’s work represents a new ‘high-water mark’. Thank you, Professor McAlpin!”