Five School of Law Faculty Members Awarded Endowed Professorships

Five endowed professorships have been awarded to U of A School of Law's distinguished faculty members.

"The pool of nominees for the professorship awards was exceptionally strong, reflecting a highly qualified and deserving group of candidates for each position," said Susan Schneider, William H. Enfield Professor of Law and chair of the Professorship Selection Committee. "The faculty members recommended by the committee and selected by Dean Cynthia Nance exemplify the very best of our school, demonstrating excellence in teaching, scholarship and public service."

These honors are more than titles; they represent enduring investments in academic excellence. Endowed professorships advance the university's mission by attracting world-class scholars, supporting innovative research and strengthening engagement with communities across the state and beyond.

Amanda Hurst, Arkansas Bar Foundation Professorship

During her term, Hurst, associate professor of law, will serve as an ambassador to the Arkansas bench and bar for the law school, strengthening those relationships and enhancing the school's visibility. The Arkansas Bar Foundation Professorship is a one-year appointment awarded to an outstanding law faculty member.

Hurst teaches Legal Research and Writing and advanced writing courses. She directs student competitions and co-coaches the ABA National Appellate Advocacy Team. She is a member of the Arkansas Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission and has served as an Arkansas Supreme Court Special Justice and on the State Board of Election Commissioners. Prior to entering academia, she clerked for Judge Bobby E. Shepherd of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Hurst earned her B.A. from Ouachita Baptist University and J.D. from the U of A School of Law.

Will Foster, Robert A. Leflar Professorship

Named in honor of long-time School of Law Dean Robert A. Leflar, this professorship recognizes excellence in teaching and research, providing sustained service and enhancing the law school's visibility through national engagement.

Foster, professor of law, serves as the director of legal programs for the Entrepreneurial Law Project, a collaboration with the Sam M. Walton College of Business Office of Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Through his work with the ELP, Foster helps provide access to legal information and pro bono legal services to entrepreneurs throughout the state. The ELP holds Entrepreneurial Law Checkups, a service that offers consultations with pro bono business law attorneys during which time entrepreneurs can ask specific legal questions, review documents and receive guidance on legal forms.

Focusing on tax, business and transactional law, Foster has introduced innovative courses such as the M&A Drafting Lab and Corporate Counsel Colloquium. He previously served as director of pro bono and community engagement at the law school. He is an active member of the Arkansas Bar Association, previously serving as chair of the Corporate and In-House Counsel Section, and serves as the reporter for the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Jury Instructions - Civil. He previously served as a member of the Arkansas Supreme Court Task Force on Lawyer Wellbeing.

His research focuses on the intersection of tax administration, financial innovation and the art market, as well as business entity design. For example, his publication, "The Gallerist's Gambit: Financial Innovation, Tax Law, and the Rise of the Post-War American Art Market" in the Columbia Journal of Law & the Arts examines how dealer Leo Castelli utilized specific financial and tax strategies to foster the 1960s American contemporary art market.

Foster earned his B.S., summa cum laude, from the University of Central Arkansas; his J.D., summa cum laude, from the U of A; and his LL.M. in taxation from New York University.

Annie Smith, Wiley H. Davis Professorship

Smith, professor of law, personifies the legacy of Wiley H. Davis, a long-time member of the School of Law faculty and dean from 1973 to 1978. The professor who holds this position is expected to produce high-quality scholarship and engage in service that reflects his excellence, integrity and public service.

Smith focuses her advocacy and scholarship on labor exploitation, including human trafficking. She directs the Human Trafficking Clinic, where students represent clients, influence state anti-trafficking efforts and collaborate with local and national organizations. Her scholarship includes articles and book chapters addressing workplace injustice and proposed solutions, including The Underprosecution of Labor Trafficking, Dismissing Human Trafficking: Forced Arbitration of Survivors' Civil Suits and Imposing Injustice: The Prospect of Mandatory Arbitration for Guestworkers. Smith's extensive public service includes serving as chair of the Legal Aid of Arkansas Board of Directors, as a voting member of the Arkansas Human Trafficking Council, consulting with state leaders on policy and working with community organizations.

Smith has served in various positions with the American Association of Law Schools Section on Poverty Law, including as chair, an executive committee member, a program chair and a member of the Paper Selection Committee. She was honored with the Equal Justice Distinguished Service Award by the Arkansas Bar Foundation and the Arkansas Bar Association. She earned her B.A. from Brown University, J.D. from the University of Wisconsin, and LL.M. from George Washington University.

Carol Goforth, Wiley H. Davis Centennial Professorship

Distinguished Professor Goforth embodies the ideals of Dean Wylie H. Davis's legacy of rigorous scholarship, innovative teaching and public service. This professorship promotes advanced research and forward‑looking instruction that equip students for the evolving legal profession.

Goforth is a nationally recognized scholar in business associations and securities regulation, and one of the leading experts on cryptoasset regulation and transactions. Over the past eight years, she has published more than two dozen law review articles and three editions of a widely used cryptoasset casebook. Her expertise is frequently sought by academic and professional audiences, and she regularly provides commentary on emerging issues in business law. She also conducts judicial training and briefs congressional staff on developments within her fields.

Goforth has previously held several prestigious titles, including University Professor, Clayton N. Little Professor of Law and Arkansas Bar Foundation Professor of Law. Known for her innovative approach to legal education, she has developed timely, practice‑oriented courses—most notably Regulation of Cryptotransactions—to address the rapidly changing regulatory landscape. She earned both her B.A. and J.D. with high honors from the U of A.

Robert Anderson, Sidney Parker Davis Jr. Professorship of Business and Commercial Law

Anderson, professor of law, has been selected to hold the Sidney Parker Davis Jr. Professorship to support a nationally recognized professor whose teaching, scholarship and service focus on business and commercial law.

Anderson's teaching portfolio includes business acquisitions, mergers and acquisitions, securities regulation, corporate finance, contracts and financing for high-tech startups. His research explores transactional documents in corporate law and mergers and acquisitions, using empirical and computational analysis to study how those documents change over time. He has worked extensively on modeling judicial behavior and on developing computational and empirical methods for analyzing corporate transactions and corporate governance.

He has a particular interest in admiralty law and enjoys exploring the theory of the ship as a form of business entity. As one of the few full-time legal scholars writing in the complex area of admiralty, he developed the ship business entity theory in his paper, "The Sea Corporation," which was named as a top-10 corporate & securities law article of 2024 by the Corporate Practice Commentator.

Anderson earned his B.A. from Claremont McKenna College, Ph.D. from Stanford University and J.D. from New York University School of Law.

About the University of Arkansas School of Law: The law school offers a competitive J.D. and is home to the nation's first LL.M. program in agriculture and food law. Led by nationally recognized faculty, the school offers students pro bono work, live client clinics, public service fellowships, competitions, and much more. Students also benefit from our location in one of the fastest growing, most livable, and economically vibrant regions in the U.S., and from our corporate externship partnerships with Fortune 500 companies. Our alumni have gone on to become judges, senators, and governors, and we serve communities throughout our state and nation through programs such as the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative. Follow us at @uarklaw.