Penn is recognized for her decades of work expanding access to justice for underserved Arkansans through clinical legal education and community advocacy. She directs the Delta Divorce Clinic, which provides free legal assistance to individuals seeking divorces in counties across the Arkansas Delta where access to legal services is limited.

The clinic travels to rural communities to assist individuals who might otherwise be unable to afford legal representation or travel long distances to seek help. Through this work, Penn has helped expand access to critical legal services while addressing barriers faced by individuals in underserved regions.

At the same time, the clinic provides law students with hands-on experience working with real clients and navigating complex legal processes. The program has assisted hundreds of Arkansans facing challenging circumstances—including individuals experiencing domestic violence or financial hardship—while preparing students for client-centered legal practice.

“This award reflects the work of the many law students who have participated in the Delta Divorce Clinic and the Delta Experience Intersession since 2015,” Penn said. “Their dedication has made it possible to serve clients across more than a dozen counties in eastern Arkansas who might otherwise be unable to afford or access legal assistance. The clinic was designed to help people who are often left without options by the system. Together, we are making access to justice a reality.”

Penn was first selected as the Bowen School of Law’s recipient of the Faculty Excellence Award for Social Justice. She was then chosen as the university-level award winner, the highest honor awarded to faculty at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock. She previously won the university-level award for public service in 2017.

The Social Justice Award was sponsored by Scott and Amy Schuh, Katherine Shoulders and an Anonymous Donor.

About the Awards
Established in 1989, the Faculty Excellence Awards have recognized outstanding faculty achievement for 35 years. The ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Board of Visitors selected the university-wide winners from a pool of faculty members representing their respective colleges and the William H. Bowen School of Law. Each university-level award recipient will receive a $5,000 prize.

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Each year, ����Vlog��ý Little Rock celebrates faculty members who have made a meaningful impact through their contributions in teaching, research, public service, and social justice. Beiner and Cook were selected from a competitive pool of 18 college-level honorees representing academic units across the university.

Beiner, professor of constitutional law, was honored with the Faculty Excellence Award in Research and Creative Endeavors, sponsored by Renee Golzar and Dr. Jaafer Golzar. Dr. Golzar is a physician practicing in Chicago, a Donaghey Scholar alumni, and was the 2022 Distinguished Alumni honoree of ����Vlog��ý Little Rock.

Cook, assistant professor of law, earned the Rising Faculty Excellence Award sponsored by Dr. Scott Bowen. Dr. Bowen has a strong connection to the university, as the William H. Bowen School of Law bears his father’s name. In his own right, Dr. Bowen is a well-respected orthopedic surgeon practicing in Little Rock.

Beiner: Faculty Excellence Award for Research and Creative Endeavors

Beiner has been a member of the Bowen faculty for 30 years and served as dean from 2018 to 2023. Her nationally and internationally recognized scholarship focuses on employment discrimination law, judicial diversity, and civil procedure. Her work has been cited more than 4,790 times on Google Scholar and published in prestigious legal journals.

Her forthcoming publications include a law review article on the impact of judicial diversity in employment discrimination cases, the third edition of her co-authored Civil Procedure casebook, and a chapter on sexual harassment in the “Oxford Handbook of Feminism and Law” in the United States. Additionally, she has signed a contract with Harvard University Press to co-author, “What the Best Legal Mentors Do.”

“I am honored that the university has recognized my scholarship with this award,” Beiner said. “For the past 30 years, my research has focused on issues that shape our legal system, from employment discrimination law to judicial diversity. I am grateful for the support of my colleagues and students, whose insights and collaboration have enriched my work. This recognition reaffirms my commitment to advancing legal scholarship and contributing to meaningful discussions in the field.”

Cook: Rising Faculty Excellence Award

Cook was recognized for his exceptional teaching, scholarly promise, and leadership. Students describe him as a caring, approachable professor who fosters an engaging and inclusive learning environment. He is known for integrating active learning into legal writing and research instruction in a way that makes complex material accessible and practical.

In addition to his classroom contributions, Cook serves as director of Bowen’s Rural Practice Incubator Project and is affiliated with the Center for Racial Justice and Criminal Justice Reform. His research explores topics in national security and legal writing.

“I am beyond honored and humbled to receive this award,” Cook said. “This was a true surprise, and I am incredibly grateful. My deepest thanks to the university, the Board of Visitors, the committee, and all of our donors for this tremendous honor. I am absolutely thrilled.”

About the Awards

Established in 1989, the Faculty Excellence Awards have recognized outstanding faculty achievement for 35 years. The ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Board of Visitors selected the university-wide winners from a pool of 18 faculty members representing their respective colleges and the William H. Bowen School of Law. Each university-level award recipient will receive a $5,000 prize.

Dr. Julien Mirivel, Dr. Lindsay Ruhr, and Morgan Leyenberger were also recognized as recipients of the university-level award.

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In a more recent article, published in October of 2023, Professor Silverstein shared his revised perspective on non-debtor releases.

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“All of us at the Bowen School of Law are terrifically proud to see Professor Boles recognized with this teaching award,” says Colin Crawford, dean of the William H. Bowen School of Law. “It is wonderful that her distinction in the classroom has earned her this honor from the university.”

Professor Boles was recently awarded the 2024 ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching at Bowen, making her eligible for the overall honor bestowed by the university. The award in teaching was created to recognize, encourage, and reward superior teachers, distinguishing them as teachers who maintain high expectations of their students and who ensure academic rigor in their courses. Professor Boles was nominated for the award by Bowen faculty member and Dean Emerita, Theresa Beiner, who lauded Boles as a mastered and innovative teacher who provided culturally proficient legal instruction in her courses.

“My main goals as a law teacher are to help my students develop the intellectual rigor and analytical ability to evaluate any legal issue, and to learn effective lawyering skills,” Boles said in a personal statement. “My teaching style is focused on three core ideas: (1) teaching through the paradigm of culturally proficient legal instruction (2) leveraging best practices in teaching and learning literature, and (3) student mentoring.”

Boles also received high praise from students and alumni alike who noted the importance of leadership in the classroom and her mentorship beyond the classroom.

“I have been fortunate throughout my academic journey to encounter several exceptional educators who were unwavering in their commitment to my success, both within and beyond the confines of the classroom,” said Dominique Lane, a 2018 graduate of the Bowen School of Law. “Professor Boles imparted invaluable lessons…her approach was a perfect blend of patience and kindness coupled with firmness and challenge. I am undoubtedly a better lawyer and person for having had the privilege of being taught and mentored by Professor Anastasia Boles.”

In 2020, Boles was honored with a ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Faculty Excellence Award in Public Service for her legal work addressing racial disparities and issues of inequality and inequity in the criminal justice system through community guidance and outreach and the development of training materials on cultural competency for law professors. The following year, Boles co-found the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law Center for Racial Justice and Criminal Justice Reform to advance racial equity, access to justice, and fairness in Arkansas and the region beyond through legal research. Since its launch, the center has engaged more than 100 pre-law students through its programs and has produced community-engaged research including its court observation project, a project funded by a $1 million dollar grant from Walmart, Inc.

Professor Boles joined Bowen in 2012 after several years of private practice with corporate law firms in California and New York, and a short stint as an adjunct professor and faculty fellow at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. Her practice focused on employment, labor, and securities litigation, as well as general civil litigation, and white-collar criminal defense. Boles graduated with honors from Stanford University and earned her law degree from Columbia Law School in New York.

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Professors Anastasia Boles, Rebecca Feldmann, and Jordan Wallace-Wolf, as well as andré cummings, associate dean for faculty development, were recognized as outstanding faculty members of the law school.

“We received several applications for the Faculty Excellence Awards — a true testament to the caliber of academics we have here at Bowen,” said Kelly Terry, associate dean for experiential learning and chair of the William H. Bowen School of Law Faculty Excellence Awards Selection Committee. “The committee members reviewed all of the nomination packets in each category and held a vote to select the winner in each category. This year’s honorees and their work in the classroom, the communities we serve, and beyond, is truly one of the best reflections of Bowen.”

Professor Boles received the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching for the William H. Bowen School of Law. This award was created to recognize, encourage and reward superior teachers, distinguishing them as teachers who maintain high expectations of their students and who ensure academic rigor in their courses. Professor Boles was nominated for the award by Bowen faculty member and Dean Emerita, Theresa Beiner.

“Professor Boles exemplifies the qualities that this award recognizes,” Beiner says. “She is a master teacher; an innovative teacher who incorporates culturally proficient legal instruction in her courses, creating a more inclusive and engaging experience for all her students; and a mentor to the students in her classes as well as those who participate in her projects in Bowen’s Center for Racial Justice and Criminal Justice Reform.”

Professor Boles also received letters of endorsement from current and former students like Taylor Toombs, a graduating law student, who says:

“Professor Boles is a phenomenal example of a community leader, legal leader, and a mentor. Her dedication to me, in and outside of class, and to other students to guarantee their success is why she should receive the faculty excellence award in teaching.”

Associate Dean andré cummings received the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Faculty Excellence Award for Research and Creative Endeavors, an award designed to reward those whose creative endeavors have been particularly successful and are recognized locally, regionally and nationally. Dean cummings also received an award for professional and public, which exists to recognize individuals who have brought credit to ����Vlog��ý Little Rock through their successful efforts in applying the content or skills of the academic disciplines in service to the community, state, or nation in areas of public interests.

“Dean cummings has been the driving force behind a collaboration which has resulted in the development of a body of groundbreaking legal scholarship that explores the way that the American legal system is a source of health-harming trauma for persons of color,” says Bowen alum and judge of Little Rock’s sixth judicial district, Amy Dunn Johnson. “Dean cummings has generously given his time, expertise and tenacity to ensure that this body of work is shared with the broader community of lawyers, judges, law students and scholars so that our justice system can improve…he is an exceptional researcher, advocate, and teacher and is imminently deserving of recognition.”

The faculty excellence award in social justice was awarded to Rebecca Feldmann – assistant professor of clinical education and director of Bowen’s Veterans Services Legal Clinic. Professor Feldmann was nominated by associate professor and Bowen Mediation Clinic Director, Kelly Browe Olson.

“Professor Feldmann’s exceptional advocacy, dedication to service and impact on social justice are truly inspiring and set a standard of excellence that reflect the core values of the law school and this award,” Olson says. “Her innovative educational programs, impactful advocacy for veterans, and community engagement initiatives have had significant impact on countless individuals and the broader legal field.”

Lastly, Assistant Professor Jordan Wallace-Wolf received the Rising Faculty Excellence Award, nominated by associate dean, Lindsey Gustafson.

“Jordan has demonstrated exceptional promise in teaching, research and creative endeavors, and public service,” Gustafson says. “Despite his stellar academic accomplishments and experience, he joined our community with intellectual humility and grace. He expects of himself exactly what he asks of students – that they be consistently prepared, intellectually curious, and engaged in building their understanding and using it to serve community. Jordan has enriched our intellectual, academic, and overall law school community. He is absolutely a rising star.., and we are lucky to have him.”

Each honoree will be recognized for their achievements at the ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Faculty Excellence Awards Thursday, April 4, 2024. The honorees will also be considered for their awards at the university level.

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At the 2021 Arkansas Racial Equity Summit hosted by the University of Central Arkansas, Dean andré douglas pond cummings presented a keynote address entitled “Howling Into the Hurricane: Breaking Down Systemic Injustice in Arkansas.” Therein, cummings argued that racism infuses institutions throughout the U.S. dating back to the U.S. Constitution.

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Prof. Silverstein discussed the process for impeaching a President and the potential effects of impeachment on the 2020 Presidential campaign.

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