Legal Academy Honors Michigan Ross Professor Lynda Oswald with Teaching Award

According to the academy, the competition “highlights the best classroom teaching, particularly the incorporation of new or evolving course subject matter, cultural contexts, pedagogy, and technology.” From a number of submissions, the academy selects four finalists who receive recognition and make teaching presentations to their academy colleagues at the group’s national conference. Oswald was voted the winner of the competition for her presentation titled “Introducing IP Law Through the Use of Narratives, Props, and Audio/Visual Examples.”

This fall will mark the 25th year that Oswald has taught Intellectual Property Law at Michigan Ross. The popular elective developed by Oswald typically draws enough MBA students to fill three sections of the course. As intangible assets are increasingly prominent on the balance sheets of business enterprises, knowledge of the legal concepts underlying patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret are critical to entrepreneurs and managers.

“I love teaching intellectual property law,” Oswald said. “Intellectual property assets have exploded in importance and value to businesses, and students recognize that and want to know more. It’s a tremendous honor to be recognized by my peers, but the real joy comes from being able to share my passion with outstanding, engaged students each year at Ross.” 

One of Oswald’s students, Emily Griffith, MBA '23, commented: "Dr. Oswald teaches Intellectual Property Law with incredible passion that makes every class enjoyable. It is so clear that she is deeply invested in the subject matter and has an impressive knowledge of it. The combination of her enthusiasm and attention to detail helps to make information digestible and also aids students in retaining their learnings beyond their time in her class.”

In 2020, the academy honored Oswald and her Michigan Ross colleague Cindy Schipani with its Distinguished Career Achievement Award.