Duquesne Kline School of Law Welcomes New Tenure-Track Faculty

Professors of Law

Professor Ryan Williams joins the faculty as an Associate Professor of Law. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale and his law degree from Georgetown. In 2014, he was named one of the top young law professors of color in America. Professor Williams has more than ten years of teaching experience focusing on Torts, Civil Procedure, Race & the Law and National Security Law, the latter of which is the focus of his scholarship. His most recent article discusses the January 6 Capitol Riot and its impact on the future of American democracy. 

Professor Williams will teach Torts, National Security Law, and Race & the Law at Duquesne Kline beginning in the fall and is anticipating his work empowering students. “I am looking forward to working at Duquesne Kline Law because of the opportunity it provides to students who might not otherwise go to law school. I see it as an opportunity for me as well, to provide the tools necessary so other people can literally satisfy their dreams. How can you beat that?” he said.

Professor Eugene Mazo joins the full-time faculty as an Associate Professor of Law, after serving the past year as visiting faculty at Seton Hall University School of Law. Professor Mazo is a nationally recognized scholar of election law and will teach contracts and remedies. He will also serve as Associate Professor of Political Science (by courtesy) at the University’s McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts.

Professor Mazo’s scholarship concerns the theory and practice of democracy, both in the United States and around the world. He is the author of dozens of articles and the editor of several books, including The Best Candidate: Presidential Nomination in Polarized Times (Cambridge University Press, 2020), Democracy by the People: Reforming Campaign Finance in America (Cambridge University Press, 2018) and Election Law Stories (Foundation Press, 2016). Professor Mazo is a past chair of the Section on Election Law at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), where he created the John Hart Ely Prize in the Law of Democracy and the Distinguished Scholarship Award in Election Law, the two most prominent awards in his field. 

The son of immigrants, Professor Mazo graduated from Columbia College before earning his master's degree from Harvard, a doctorate in politics from Oxford, and his law degree from Stanford. 

Duquesne Kline was founded to provide immigrants a path to legal education, and that mission resonates with Professor Mazo. “I’m a democracy scholar. So, a school whose mission it is to promote democratic discourse through leadership, service, and civic engagement is where I want to be. I’m also a first-generation immigrant. I want to teach at a school where the students come from backgrounds that is similar to my own. In a nutshell, that’s Duquesne,” he said.

Professor Maryann Herman joins the tenure-track faculty at Duquesne Kline as an Assistant Professor of Law teaching property law. Her scholarship also focuses on property rights and comparative law.  Professor Herman formerly served the school as an Assistant Professor of Legal Skills and Director of Academic Excellence. Having taught legal reasoning and law school skills courses, she strives to integrate skills concepts into the doctrinal classroom improving the learning of all her students. 

Prior to joining Duquesne Kline Law, Professor Herman served as the Director of Academic Success and Bar Preparation Studies at the Appalachian School of Law, where she also taught Business Associations. She formerly worked at BarBri Bar Review and practiced at the Chicago Legal Clinic, an organization serving low-income clients. Professor Herman received her Juris Doctor from Wayne State University in Detroit.

Professor Herman writes in the area of real property and her article An Easement For Public Benefit: A Stick In The Bundle For Those Displaced By Eminent Domain is forthcoming in the University of Pittsburgh Law Review. She is committed to her students’ growth and understanding of property law.  

“I’m looking forward to continuing to help students learn, and to explore with them in greater depth how our laws regarding property affect the way we live,” said Professor Herman.