Associate Professor Tianna Gibbs received the 2022 Society of American Law Teachers (SALT) Junior Faculty Award in a virtual ceremony Jan. 7, 2022. The award honors a faculty member with seven or fewer years as a legal educator for their commitment to justice, equality and academic excellence in teaching, scholarship or advocacy.
Nominated by Prof. Mae Quinn, Associate Dean Lindsay Harris and Dean Renee Hutchins, Prof. Gibbs is a student favorite and well-liked colleague. She is an experienced attorney, advocate and scholar who brings her background representing domestic violence survivors and custodial and noncustodial parents to her scholarship and her teaching, providing a real-world framework for her students.
Prof. Gibbs co-directs the General Practice Clinic with Prof. Andrew Budzinski. In Fall 2021, Gibbs and Budzinski adapted their clinic to focus on providing unbundled legal services to litigants in family law cases to help them navigate the complexities of remote court operations and effectuating service of process during a global health pandemic. This shift provided students with the opportunity to work in real time to respond to a crisis that directly impacted the delivery of legal services, an experience that will better prepare them to become adaptable attorneys after graduation.
In her acceptance speech, Prof. Gibbs said, “I am honored and humbled to receive the SALT Junior Faculty Award. Thank you to Professor Mae Quinn for taking the lead on my nomination, and to Dean Renee Hutchins and Dean Lindsay Harris for supporting my nomination. Thank you to all the UDC students, staff and faculty for being my co-laborers in the fight for justice. You inspire me to be a better teacher, lawyer and human. I am deeply grateful and will continue to strive to live out the tenets of this award.”