W&L Law’s Karen Woody Named a Herndon Fellow Washington and Lee law professor Karen Woody has been selected for a fellowship with the Herndon Foundation aimed at preparing diverse professionals for positions on corporate boards.

By Peter Jetton
March 23, 2021

Washington and Lee law professor Karen Woody has been selected for a fellowship with the Herndon Foundation aimed at preparing diverse professionals for positions on corporate boards.

The program, the Herndon Directors Institute, is a partnership between the Foundation and America’s leading corporations and organizations to expand the participation of women and minorities in business leadership. Woody was one of 19 fellows selected to participate in the intensive, a six-month program.

“I am thrilled for the opportunity and have already gained so much insight and knowledge in just the first few weeks of the program,” said Woody.  “We have already had a range of impressive speakers, including Ken Frazier, the current CEO of Merck, among others.  I’m very much looking forward to the opportunities this fellowship will create.”

The program seeks to prepare fellows for positions as corporate directors by giving them hands on experience in governance fundamentals, stakeholder capitalism, financial and risk management, and market and brand dominance, among other topics.

Woody joined the W&L Law faculty in 2019. Her scholarship focuses on securities law, financial regulation, and white-collar crime. She has published her work in a number of journals including the Maryland Law Review, Stanford Law Review Online, Cardozo Law Review, Fordham Law Review, and the Journal of Corporation Law, among others. Her work on conflict minerals is widely cited, and she has testified for the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee regarding federal conflict minerals regulation.

Prior to joining W&L Law, Woody was on the faculty of the Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Prior to entering academia, she practiced law in Washington, D.C. at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, Bracewell LLP, and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. In her practice, she advised corporate and individual clients on issues related to white collar crime and compliance issues, with a particular focus on international corruption, securities and accounting fraud, and internal corporate investigations. While practicing law, she also served as an adjunct professor and taught a variety of law courses at Georgetown University Law Center, George Washington Law School, and American University Washington College of Law.

Woody received her LL.M. with distinction in Securities and Financial Regulation from Georgetown University Law Center. She received her J.D. from American University Washington College of Law, where she served on the American University Law Review. She also has a graduate degree in theology from Regent College (Vancouver, B.C.), and a B.A. from the University of Virginia.

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