A new program will support early-stage scholars committed to obtaining appointments as tenure-track law school faculty members.
The Texas Law Academic Fellowships program will provide selected scholars with two years of assistance including assigned mentors and opportunities to develop their research agenda, writing projects, and teaching skills. The program will accept applications from across the country beginning in August 2024 and welcome its first class of academic fellows in fall 2025.
“The new Academic Fellowships program will bring some of the most highly qualified future law professors to Texas Law each year,” says A. W. Walker Centennial Chair Derek Jinks, chair of the special committee formed to select academic fellows. “These scholars will enrich our intellectual community, increase the methodological and experiential diversity of the faculty, and expand our cutting-edge course offerings.”
This new program is a high priority for Dean Bobby Chesney.
“I am thrilled that we are harnessing the talent and reach of our world-class faculty to create opportunities for exceptional emerging scholars to join our community,” says Chesney. “This is vital to growing the legal academy in dynamic ways, and our program will be one of the best there is.”
I am thrilled that we are harnessing the talent and reach of our world-class faculty to create opportunities for exceptional emerging scholars to join our community.”
Dean Bobby Chesney
Chesney will consider applicants recommended by the special committee following a nationwide call for promising scholars and educators, with up to two Academic Fellows selected each year. Participating Academic Fellows are expected to enter the law school teaching market in the fall of their second year.
Academic Fellows will enjoy numerous benefits at Texas Law.
“The program is structured to facilitate fellows’ transition to full-time, tenure-track positions on a law faculty. Toward this end, fellows will be fully integrated into our faculty—and the wider intellectual environment at Texas Law,” Jinks says. “More specifically, fellows will gain experience in, and be mentored on, the design and execution of research projects, the development of a broader research agenda, and law teaching.”
To be considered, interested applicants should apply online.