Rising Star
Ben Spencer making a name for himself in short time
Ben Spencer won the Rising Star award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.By Michelle Hershman, L ’07
Ben Spencer has accomplished a lot in a short time.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed.
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia recently selected Spencer, assistant professor of law, as the “Rising Star” recipient in the 2007 Outstanding Faculty Awards.
“It is no exaggeration to rate him as one of the fastest-rising university professors in the country, a person who has made an extraordinary name for himself in an astonishingly short period of time,” said Rodney A. Smolla, dean of the School of Law and a 2002 Outstanding Faculty award recipient. “He has written a top-selling book, published in the most prestigious national law reviews, endeared himself to his students and been a generous contributor of service to the University and the community.”
Spencer graduated from Harvard Law School and holds a master of science degree with distinction in criminal justice policy from the London School of Economics.
Before joining the Richmond Law faculty, Spencer clerked for Judge Judith W. Rodgers of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and worked as a litigation associate at the law firm Shearman and Sterling. He teaches civil procedure and complex litigation and has published a popular student study guide, Acing Civil Procedure.
“I’m in the middle of my third year of teaching, and in that time, I’ve managed to do quite a bit more than is typical for someone at this stage of their career,” Spencer said. “I’ve published more articles than is required for tenure in my two years of teaching. That is usually a six-year process.”
Spencer is the author of the forthcoming book Civil Procedure: A Contemporary Approach, a course book that features an accompanying electronic version with hyperlinked text to connect students to a vast array of supplementary legal materials. There are no co-authors on the course book—a feat almost unheard of for a junior faculty member.
Spencer attributes the award partly to his use of technology in the classroom. He is operating two different legal blogs regarding federal civil procedure that students, practitioners and professors consult on a daily basis. Also, he often uses PowerPoint and the Internet during his lectures and receives praise from student evaluations.
The Rising Star award “was not something I expected because Virginia has a lot of good schools with outstanding junior faculty members,” said Spencer, who received the award Feb. 8 at an evening reception at the Library of Virginia. “But, I think I received this award because I was doing a lot of different things with teaching and scholarship and having a broad impact beyond Virginia and beyond my school.”
Spencer acknowledges the award will have a positive effect on the University, particularly with regard to future enrollment.
“It’s good for schools to get these high-profile awards because it shows our school is a place that is serious about academics,” he said. “Students looking at the school will see there are good teachers here, and it will enhance our reputation among other teachers at other schools. Hopefully, it will also demonstrate that our faculty is high quality.”
Spencer plans to continue doing work above and beyond his teaching responsibilities. He has just completed an article that looks at the scope of the judicial power of the United States. This summer, Spencer will publish a Federal Civil Rules supplement, and he plans to work on a collaborative project with two research assistants on challenges facing the federal judiciary. He is also thinking about launching another blog in support of his civil procedure class.