Ellen S. Podgor is the Associate Dean of Faculty Development and Distance Education at Stetson University College of Law. She is a co-author of books on white collar crime, criminal law and international criminal law, and has authored articles on computer crime, international criminal law, lawyer’s ethics, criminal discovery, prosecutorial discretion, corporate criminality, and other white collar crime topics. Professor Podgor is also a co-editor of the White Collar Crime Prof Blog.
In addition to her law degree, Professor Podgor earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and an L.L.M. from Temple University. In the fall of 1998, she was a Visiting Scholar at Yale Law School. She was a professor of law at Georgia State University College of Law and has also been a visiting professor at University of Georgia School of Law and George Washington University Law School and held a visiting endowed chair position at University of Alabama School of Law. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) and the International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law (ISRCL). She is also a member of the American Law Institute (ALI) and an honorary member of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers.
FLP: What is your educational and professional background?
EP: After graduating from law school I joined the prosecutor’s office as a deputy prosecutor in the felony division. Back in 1976, I was the only woman deputy prosecutor in this division in the Crown Point, Indiana office. After prosecuting individuals for crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, and other felonies, I entered private practice. I spent a good number of years in practice and in the last two years received an MBA from Chicago. I then left private practice to study and receive an LL.M. from Temple U. Law School. To me teaching is the ultimate profession and I have enjoyed and continue to enjoy the teaching, writing, and service that I am able to do as a law professor.
FLP: What courses do you teach?
EP: I feel like during my teaching career I have taught 1/4 the courses in a law school curriculum. But having the experience of teaching constitutional law, agency, family law, criminal procedure, professional responsibility, and women in the law has made me a better professor in the courses that I do in fact presently teach. I am now settled into my dream course package of criminal law, white collar crime, and international criminal law. It is wonderful to have courses that match my scholarship.
FLP: How does feminism influence your teaching/scholarship/service?
EP: Feminism is an integral part of where I have been, where I am going, and who I am. Every time I approach any subject of law, I do so from a feminist view. It is the caring that goes into mentoring students and a perspective I bring to my teaching, scholarship, and service.
