Sarah Haan Named to Class of 1958 Uncas and Anne McThenia Term Professorship W&L Law professor Sarah Haan has been named to be the inaugural Class of 1958 Uncas and Anne McThenia Professor of Law. Her appointment is effective July 1, 2022. 

By Peter Jetton
June 27, 2022

W&L Law professor Sarah Haan has been named to be the inaugural Class of 1958 Uncas and Anne McThenia Professor of Law. Her appointment is effective July 1, 2022.

Haan joined the faculty in 2017 and teaches a variety of core and advanced business law classes in the curriculum, including Business Associations and Mergers and Acquisitions. She also teaches the required Professional Responsibility course.

Haan is a nationally-recognized expert on corporate governance. Her most recent article, Corporate Governance and the Feminization of Capital (Stanford Law Review, 2022), examines the crossroads of corporate law, business history, socio-economics, women’s history, and the study of capital. A scholarly review of this article called it “a must-read article for every teacher and student of corporate law” and described her work in this piece as a “sweeping, provocative, and almost totally new synthesis of long-forgotten historical details.”

Haan also writes on issues at the intersection of business law and politics, such as corporate political speech, campaign finance disclosure, and the First Amendment. Her book chapters and articles have appeared or are forthcoming in edited collections, peer-reviewed journals such as the International Journal of Financial Research, and leading U.S. law reviews including the Yale Law Journal. Professor Haan has been recognized for excellence in legal scholarship with the Lewis Prize in 2018 and with an Ethan Allen Faculty Fellowship in 2021.

Haan has served the W&L community as chair of the Law School’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and as an elected faculty representative to the University’s Board of Trustees. She has also served as a mentor and tenure committee member to newer law faculty.

“Sarah is a respected colleague who shines in all aspects of her faculty role at W&L Law,” said Interim Dean Michelle Drumbl. “I am glad to recognize her past and future contributions with this professorship.”

Haan received a B.A. in History from Yale University and a law degree from Columbia Law School, where she was an articles editor of the Columbia Law Review. Prior to joining legal academia, Haan worked in the litigation department at Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York, and as a Teach For America teacher in Compton, California.

The Class of 1958 Uncas and Anne McThenia Term Professorship was established by the members of the undergraduate Class of 1958 in celebration of their 50^th reunion to support a faculty member in the School of Law. The prestigious award will rotate to a different professor every three to five years.

If you know a W&L faculty member who has done great, accolade-worthy things, tell us about them! Nominate them for an accolade.