School of Law welcomes three new faculty members
The University of St. Thomas School of Law this semester is welcoming three new faculty members: Mariana Hernandez Crespo, Susan McGuigan and Morse Tan.
Mariana Hernandez Crespo
Mariana Hernandez Crespo holds J.D. and LL.M. degrees from Harvard Law School, where she was co-president of the Latin American Law Society. She taught classes at the Universidad Metropolitana in Venezuela regarding public leadership, civic engagement and multi-party negotiation. She also taught Alternative Dispute Resolution classes at the Law School of University Alfonso X El Sabio in Madrid, Spain.
Mariana
Hernandez Crespo
Her first law degree was from the Universidad Catolica Andres Bello (UCAB) in Caracas. At UCAB, she received the 40th Anniversary of the University Full Scholarship Award Prize for authoring the best law-related paper. She taught criminal law at UCAB (as a student professor appointed by the university president), and founded and led a program for children under state custody. In Caracas, she practiced law and clerked for Justice Calcano de Temeltas of the Supreme Court.
Hernandez Crespo worked as an associate at Davis Polk and Wardwell in New York City. Her research focuses on alternative dispute resolution, mediation, international and comparative law, and law and development.
Susan McGuigan
In her academic career, Susan McGuigan has taught legal writing, advanced legal research, appellate advocacy, and professional responsibility. In 1990, she joined the faculty of the Legal Writing Program at Vermont Law School, becoming assistant director in 1992. From 1994 through 2000, McGuigan was director of the Legal Writing Program at Whittier Law School in Southern California.
Susan McGuigan
At both the Vermont and Whittier law schools, McGuigan worked to establish academic support programs to serve those students who might not have traditional means of support to help them succeed in law school. This interest in serving the needs of students caused McGuigan to shift her focus to student services, working as dean of students at Whittier for several years.
McGuigan received her J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School, cum laude, in 1987. During law school, she was a managing editor of the Law and Inequality Journal and her student note was published. After law school, McGuigan clerked for Judge James Morrow of the Tenth Judicial District in Anoka and Chief Judge D.D. Wozniak of the Minnesota Court of Appeals.
Morse Tan
Morse Tan comes to St. Thomas after two years with the University of Texas School of Law serving both as a visiting scholar and senior research fellow. He received his J.D. from Northwestern University and is a graduate of Wheaton College with a master’s in interdisciplinary studies.
Morse Tan
Tan was an assistant professor of law at Handong International Law School in Pohang, Korea, from 2002 to 2004. Handong International Law School was the first J.D. program to be established in Asia. His scholarly interests include international law, international human rights, jurisprudence, bioethics and alternative dispute resolution.
In addition to his expertise in law, Tan is an accomplished cellist. He has recorded and has toured in Australia, Korea and Russia. He is also an outstanding tennis and chess player.
