The Wake Forest Law Office of Development and Alumni Engagement is pleased to announce the appointment of 22 new members to the Law Board of Visitors and Rose Council. These alumni and friends of the Law School began their three-year terms on July 1, 2026, bringing with them a wealth of experience and a shared passion for advancing the mission of Wake Forest Law.

Joining the Law Board of Visitors: Coleman Cowan (JD ’95), McLaurin Files (JD ’96), Lawrence Matthews (JD ’10), Jean Martin (’89, JD ’98), Edie Johnson (JD ’88), Will Dickinson (’07, JD ’10), David Daggett (JD ’85), Mary Sharp (JD ’93), Rich McPherson (JD ’10), Chris Behm (JD ’98), Paul Fanning (JD ’98, P ’30), and Jasmine Gardner (JD ’14).

Joining the Rose Council: Kylie Hamilton (JD ’20), Chance Villarreal (JD ’25), Walker Phillips (JD ’25), Joshualan Parrish (JD ’23), Nick D’Auria (JD ’16), Phillip Jester (JD ’20), Jada Williams (JD/MDIV ’24), William Gilchrist (JD ’25), and Mary Catherine Baker (JD ’25).

View the full Law Board of Visitors and Rose Council rosters at the link in our bio.

To all of our #LegalDeacs taking the bar exam this week: You’ve got this! We’re cheering you on every step of the way. 🎩

✨ TENURE ANNOUNCEMENT ✨

Dr. Alyse Bertenthal has not followed a linear path, and she is glad for that. Long before she became a professor, she imagined a career in teaching. Volunteering in elementary schools throughout high school and college, she saw firsthand the many constraints imposed on teachers and students. That observation pointed her toward law, which offered a way to work on those constraints directly.

From there, her path continued to unfold in unexpected ways. She clerked for federal judges in the Ninth Circuit and Central District of California, and practiced as an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union Criminal Law Reform Project and then at a litigation and trial firm. Along the way, Dr. Bertenthal began to realize that she was drawn not just to practicing law, but to understanding the ways in which people interpret it, discuss it, and use it.

That instinct eventually led her to pursue a PhD and to take up the work she does today as a socio-legal scholar and professor of law. Dr. Bertenthal has staked out a distinctive place at the meeting point of two fields—environmental law, which asks how we protect land, air, water, and the communities that depend on them, and criminal law, which asks who is held accountable when serious harm is done. As both fields are rapidly being rewritten, that intersection is where some of the most consequential issues of the moment are playing out.

Tenure has given her the freedom to take on the kind of work that can explore these intersections: projects that call for methods she hasn`t used before, that trace a longer arc of history, and that rest on a far larger body of data than she`s worked with to date. For her, the process of research itself is one of the most gratifying parts of the job, especially when it lets her learn from people whose experiences and perspectives differ from her own.

Learn more about Dr. Bertenthal at the link in our bio.

Legal knowledge isn’t just for attorneys.
In industries shaped by regulations, contracts, and compliance requirements, professionals often need a strong understanding of the law to make informed decisions and collaborate effectively with legal teams.
The Master of Legal Studies is designed for professionals who want legal fluency without becoming practicing attorneys.
Head to our bio to learn more.
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