By Kathy Pharr
By Kathy Pharr
Dan Coenen is "a jewel among the law school faculty and, indeed, among the entire university faculty," according to alumnus Michael Sharp of New York.
Countless other current and former students echo that praise for this engaging and caring professor, who is regarded as one of the most arduous taskmasters in the School of Law. Student evaluations are consistently superior: "The class that challenges you the most often teaches you the most," wrote one student.
He "prodded me to excel and reach heights that I thought were beyond me," said 1992 graduate Sonya Yarbrough, now an Atlanta attorney. "He seemed to sense an ability in students that was previously untapped and he pushed and nudged, and sometimes tugged, until the potential was finally reached."
Law students have selected Coenen to receive every law school award for teaching excellence: the Student Bar Association Faculty Book Award (twice), the John C. O'Byrne Memorial Faculty Award (twice), and the Professional Responsibility Award. In addition, graduates have elected him four times as honorary grand marshal.
Coenen promotes good faculty-student relations. His impromptu class "pep talks" are well known. He meets first-year students for lunch on Fridays to discuss concerns, hosts parties for students and convenes classes at his home, and plays in the law school's basketball league.
His prolific and influential scholarship is respected in the legal community. He has published articles in the Yale Law Journal, the Michigan Law Review,and many other top legal periodicals. He regularly teaches Contracts and Constitutional law, and in recent years he has pioneered three new courses: Comparative Constitutional Law, Approaches to Lawyering and a revised version of Judicial Process.
"Dan Coenen is an exceptional role model and a teacher in everything he does," says Dean Edward D. Spurgeon. "He truly has reached the apex of the profession in scholarship, teaching and service, and is universally regarded by students and peers alike as the consummate teacher-scholar."
Coenen graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Wisconsin and earned his law degree magna cum laude at Cornell University, where he was editor-in-chief of the Cornell Law Review. He became in 1987 the first former U.S. Supreme Court law clerk to join the UGA faculty, was promoted to associate professor in 1991 and to full professor in 1996, and was named to a chaired professorship in 1997.
