Maurer Law Professor receives Sonneborn Award

IU has named Maurer School of Law professor Susan Williams the winner of the 2014 Tracy M. Sonneborn Award.

The Sonneborn Award honors the research and teaching of an IU faculty member. It is named for the IU biologist, Tracy M. Sonneborn, a renowned geneticist and teacher.
Williams is a Walter W. Foskett Professor of Law and director of the Center for Constitutional Democracy.

She is awarded the honor for her work in constitutional theory, feminist jurisprudence and gender equality, according to the release.

Throughout her career, Williams has helped promote diversity within social groups.
She has worked with ethnic minority groups in Burma, South Sudan, Liberia, Northern Africa and Vietnam, where she has created democratciesfor each country.
She has authored several books, including “Social Difference and Constitutionalism in Pan Asia” and “Truth, Autonomy and Speech: Feminist Theory and the First Amendment.”

At the law school, Williams teaches a first-year course on property law and courses on feminist jurisprudence and the First Amendment and constitutional design.

“Susan Williams is truly deserving of the Sonneborn Award,” Provost Lauren Robel said in the release. “She is widely recognized for her path-breaking scholarship on constitutional theory, and she is an inspiring teacher who brings out the best in her students.

“Her fearless work in constitutional design has helped empower marginalized populations in some of the world’s most troubled regions.”

The Sonneborn Award contains a $3,500 award and a grant of $1,000 to support any project the recipient conducts, according to the release.

Williams will give a speech at the annual Sonneborn Lecture in the fall.

Jessica Campbell