Associate Dean of Students and Professor Kelly Curtis Honored with Prestigious Award for Excellence in Legal Education

Associate Dean of Students and Teaching Professor Kelly Curtis recently received a significant honor highlighting her exceptional contributions to legal education: the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Section on Academic Support Impact Award.

Curtis received the AALS Impact Award at the association’s recent Annual Meeting, where she also presented her current work in progress, “The Invisible Crisis: How Generative AI Transforms Risk Detection in Legal Education” at the “Fostering Impact and Resilience: Institutional Academic Support for Law Students and ASP Faculty” session, which demonstrates her leadership in shaping best practices across legal education.

The AALS Impact Award recognizes legal educators who are “inspiring students and peers in the academic support profession today and catapulting us forward to a stronger tomorrow.” Recipients must demonstrate significant impact through student support and mentoring, promoting diversity and expanding access to the legal profession, or developing innovative ideas and practices.

Under Curtis’s leadership, Syracuse Law has built comprehensive support systems that guide students from admissions through the bar exam. She has developed and now leads two critical offices: the Office of Student Experience (OSE), which fosters an engaging and inclusive environment for the entire law school community and oversees more than 30 student organizations; and the Office of Academic and Bar Support (OABS), which provides strategic academic guidance and programming tailored to each student’s success.

“Professor Curtis is dedicated to the growth and success of our students. Her professional, personal approach to guiding our students through their legal education sets them for success in their careers and as members of the communities they serve,” says Dean Terence Lau L’98.

In addition to her administrative leadership, Curtis maintains an active teaching portfolio, instructing courses in Professional Responsibility, Feminist Jurisprudence, and Law and Sexuality—work that earned her the Meredith Teaching Recognition Award for her sustained commitment to excellence in the classroom.

“I am honored to receive these awards. Everyone at Syracuse Law places our students’ success at the forefront of everything we do, and I’m grateful to be part of a community so deeply committed to providing an exceptional student experience,” says Curtis.