Professor Cheryl Hanna (Vermont) has died.
Vermont Dean Marc Mihaly sent an email to the Vermont Law School community earlier today. It stated in part:
It is with the most profound sorrow that we announce the untimely death of our dear colleague Professor Cheryl Hanna.
Professor Hanna was a beloved teacher, a role model to many within and beyond the Vermont Law School community, and a powerful force for innovation. We are heartbroken. She will be deeply missed.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, Professor Hanna was an expert in constitutional law, the United States Supreme Court, and women and the law. Her scholarship has been published in leading journals, including the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and Michigan Journal of Gender and the Law. Professor Hanna was also a frequent media commentator, including on Vermont Public Radio and WCAX-TV 3.
She consulted on constitutional cases and represented public interest organizations through the filing of amicus briefs in cases before state and federal courts. This included the amicus brief she and Vermont Law School students wrote on behalf of the Vermont Commission on Women in Dreves v. Hudson, the first case implicating Vermont’s Equal Pay Act. The book she co-authored, Domestic Violence and the Law: Theory and Practice, was the leading casebook on violence against women.
Professor Hanna is survived by her husband and two children.
The Burlington Free Press has coverage here.
I will pass along more information as I receive it.
May her memory be a blessing.
-Bridget Crawford
UPDATE 7/29/14: A funeral for Professor Hanna will be held on Friday, August 1, 2014, at 3:00 p.m. in the Ira Allen Chapel at the University of Vermont in Burlington. Details here. Vermont Law School has a memorial web page here.
