Honorary Members
Rhea Ballard-Thrower
Rhea Ballard-Thrower served as
Associate Professor of Law and Executive
Director of the Howard University Library
System. She earned her juris doctor degree
from the University of Kentucky in 1986. In her
role as Associate Professor of Law she teaches
an Advanced Legal Research course at the law
school. As Executive Director of the Howard
Library System, she oversees the University’s
Founders Library, Undergraduate Library, and
Moorland Spingarn Archives. Previously,
Professor Ballard-Thrower served as Director of
the Howard University Law Library.
Okianer Christian Dark
Okianer Christian Dark serves as Professor of
Law at Howard University School of Law and the
University’s Associate Provost for the Office of
Faculty Development. She earned her juris
doctor degree from Rutgers University in 1979.
In her role as a Professor of Law at Howard
University School of Law, she teaches torts to
first year students of Section Two. Additionally,
Professor Dark works as an Associate Provost for
the Office of Faculty Development, where she works to
develop and sponsor professional development
initiatives and programming for faculty across the
University’s twelve schools. Professor Dark previously
served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the
law school, where she was responsible for the
assessment and evaluation of academic curriculum
and the means by which curriculum was administered
to students through faculty. Professor Dark also
lead a remarkable career as a trial attorney
for the Department of Justice and Assistant U.S. Attorney prior to embarking on her career as an educator.
Ursula Tracy Doyle
Ursula Tracy Doyle teaches law as a Professor at
Salmon P. Chase College of Law (Chase), Northern
Kentucky University. Her disciplines include public
international law, international criminal law,
professional responsibility and torts. Prior to her role
as a professor at Chase College of Law, Doyle taught
legal research and writing at Howard University
School of Law. She also practiced mas tort law and
complex litigation. Doyle clerked for the Honorable
Theodore A. McKee, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third
Circuit, Philadelphia, PA. Doyle has research on the
topics of: business and human rights, the use of
international law in the U. S. domestic courts, the
institutional capacities of the United Nations, business
and human rights, and the human rights demands of
restorative justice.
Dione Duckett
Attorney Dione Traci Duckett concentrates her
practice in the areas of Estate Planning and
Elder Law. Dione’s interest in and dedication to
these practice areas developed as a result of
her personal relationships and experiences with
her father, who died of Alzheimer’s Disease, and
her sister and nephew who both have Downs
Syndrome. Through these personal experiences,
she has gained first-hand knowledge and understanding
of the concerns and challenges that individuals
and their families have in caring for aging or disabled
family members and the people whom they love.
Dione’s goal is to help clients achieve peace of
mind by providing quality legal
services to address clients’
needs.
Marsha Echols
Marsha Echols is an attorney and law professor at
Howard University School of Law where she
specializes in US and international food law and
policy. She has advised the Specialty Food
Association (formerly NASFT), its Councils,
Committees and members for over 20 years about
understanding and complying with government
regulations. She also counsels companies about
starting and managing a successful food business,
contracts, labeling and trademarks, among other
keys to the success of a food business. Marsha is a
private sector advisor to USDA, the author of books
and articles about food regulations, and often
participates in the development of global food
standards. Marsha holds degrees from Howard
University (BA), Georgetown Law Center (JD),
University of Brussels (LLM) and Columba Law School (LLM, JSD).
Alice Gresham-Bullock
Bullock is a prominent legal educator with a reputation
for taking a hard look at legal issues in taxation and
family wealth transfer (wills, trusts and estates). She has
been known to advocate for and develop social policy
to secure equal justice for all, especially middle- and
low-income groups. In addition to her many
accomplishments, she was recognized for her
groundbreaking work in legal education on behalf of
minority groups whenthe 20,000-member National Bar
Association bestowed her with its highest honor, the
Gertrude E. Rush Award. In 1999, Suffolk University
awarded her an honorary doctor of laws degree in
recognition of her contributions to legal education. Bullock
joined the faculty at Howard in 1979 and was appointed dean
of the law school in 1997, serving in that capacity until July 2002.
Before she was named dean, Bullock served stints as associate
dean and acting dean of the law school. She has also held
the title of associate dean for academic affairs during her
tenure. While on leave from Howard University from 1992-94,
she served as deputy director of the Association of American
Law Schools.Bullock's expertise is tax law, wills, trusts, estates,
professional ethics and corporations. She is a regular lecturer
for the bar and has been an author of numerous professional
articles on tax, estate planning, legal education and mental health.
Lenese Herbert
Professor Herbert has taught at Howard since 2008, thrice as a visitor and, as
of 2013, as a full-time tenured professor. She
teaches courses in criminal law, criminal
procedure, evidence, admin law, and social
media and the law.
Considered an expert on bias in the criminal
justice system, (im)proper policing, and the role
of a criminal prosecutor, Herbert’s scholarship is
published in a number of law reviews and
journals; it is also cited in court decisions and
pleadings, including amicus briefs filed in the
recent U.S. v. Jones, the Supreme Court’s GPS
tracking decision. Herbert has also co-authored
two volumes, Constitutional Criminal Procedure
(with the late Howard law professor Andrew
Danielle Holley-Walker
Danielle Holley-Walker is the Dean of the
Howard University School of Law. She was
previously the Associate Dean for Academic
Affairs and Distinguished Professor of Law at the
University of South Carolina School Of Law.
Laurence Nolan
Laurence Nolan graduated from Howard University
with a Bachelor of Science in 1961. In 1974 Nolan
graduated from the University of Michigan Law School. Nolan’s
teaching career started in 1979, where, she was an
associate professor for the Detroit College of Law
in 1979. She later returned to Howard University
where she started as an Adjunct Professor in 1982
and in 1996 she became a full-time professor.
Nolan is not currently a professor at Howard
University School of Law (HUSL), but during her
time at HUSL she taught Legal Methods, Legal
Writing, Family Law, Will, Trusts & Estates, Law and
Aging, National Moot Court Class and etc. Nolan
was also involved in the Family Law Society and
the Family Law Certificate Program. While
teaching at
HUSL she was on the Branton Law Journal
Symposium Planning Committee; on the Sabbatical
Review Committee; served as Co-chair for the
Brown@50 Committee; and was a brief grader for the Charles Hamilton
Houston Moot Court Competition. Nolan has achieved emerita status and is
now retired.
Alice Thomas
Alice Thomas is a tenured, full-time, associate professor here at Howard Law
School and the Interim Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching,
Learning and Assessment. She formerly was a
full-time, tenured member of the faculty at the
University of the District of Columbia David A.
Clarke School of Law and is in the middle of her
27th year of law teaching. She spent the
Academic Year 2004-2005 as a visiting law
professor at John Marshall Law School in
Chicago. She enjoys getting to know faculties
and students at different institutions, with
different missions because it greatly enhances
both my teaching and scholarship. Professor
Thomas returned to my alma mater – Howard
Law School – to serve the needs of the
institution and its current student body, with
the hope of making a positive contribution to
the academic success of her students.
Patricia Worthy
Professor Patrica Worthy is currently a professor
at Howard University School of Law where she
has been a professor for over thirty years. She
joined the full-time faculty in 1992 and as a
Professor of Law she teaches courses in
Professional Responsibility, Administrative Law,
Legal Methods and Telecommunications Law
and Policy. She is also a Member of the federal
judiciary’s Online System for Clerkship
Application and Review (OSCAR) Working
Group. Professor Worthy has nearly fifteen years
of regulatory experience at both the federal and
state levels, working extensively in the areas of
transportation, energy and telecommunications.
In 1977, Secretary Patricia Roberts Harris
appointed Professor Worthy as Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Regulatory Functions at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
