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The Indiana State Bar Association will present the 2017 Rabb Emison Award to IU McKinney Professor Shawn Boyne (left) and Assistant Dean Chasity Thompson, ’02, of the law school’s Office of Professional Development, at the organization’s annual award luncheon on Wednesday, August 30, from 12:00-1:30 p.m., at the Conrad Hotel in downtown Indianapolis.

The Rabb Emison Awards honor individuals and organizations who demonstrate a commitment to promote diversity and equality in the legal profession and in the membership of the State Bar. This award is named in memory of Mr. Emison, a past president of the association, who was instrumental in encouraging diversity in the ISBA.

Together, Professor Boyne and Assistant Dean Thompson have directed IU McKinney’s Summer Law and Leadership Academy for the past three years. The program is designed to introduce undergraduate students from historically underrepresented backgrounds to law school and the career opportunities available with a law degree.

Professor Boyne teaches courses in cybercrime, criminal law, criminal procedure, and national security law. A Senior Mosaic Faculty Fellow, Professor Boyne is Co-Director of the J.D. Program Evaluation and Chair of the Global Crisis Leadership Forum.

In addition to her duties overseeing the Office of Professional Development, Thompson co-directed the Indiana Conference for Legal Education Opportunity (ICLEO) over the summer at IU McKinney.

This is the second time that the state bar association has recognized Thompson with the Rabb Emison Award; she was also a recipient in 2006.

Professor Carlton Waterhouse, a Dean’s Fellow and director of the Environmental Energy and Natural Resources Law Program at IU McKinney, and former McKinney Professor Maria Lopez are past recipients of the Rabb Emison Award.