Cynthia Nance Receives Prestigious Honors for Contributions to the Legal Profession

Cynthia Nance, dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law, is earning national and statewide recognition for her extraordinary leadership and enduring impact on the legal profession, receiving two prestigious honors: induction into the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame and the American Bar Association Robert J. Kutak Award.

In August, Nance will join seven women inducted into the 10th class of the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame, a distinction recognizing those whose have made significant contributions to the state and their respective fields and stand as positive examples for women everywhere. The organization honors women, in perpetuity, whose contributions have influenced the direction of Arkansas in their community or the state.

Nance has also been named the 2026 recipient of the Robert J. Kutak Award, presented by the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. The prestigious award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to strengthening the partnership among the legal academy, the bench and the bar. It was established in memory of Kutak, a respected Omaha lawyer, who was committed to legal reform and a strong advocate for legal education.

"I want to congratulate Dean Nance on receiving these outstanding honors," said Provost Indrajeet Chaubey. "These awards are richly deserved, and her legacy as dean of the School of Law, a faculty member and an attorney will last for many years to come.  Her work will continue to have a positive effect on our campus, our students and our state. I'm deeply grateful for her many contributions to our institution, and I'm amazed and inspired by everything she has accomplished over her career."

Nance, the Nathan G. Gordon Professor of Law, is completing her second tenure as dean of the School of Law. A member of the faculty since 1994, she previously served as dean from 2006 to 2011, becoming the first woman and the first person of color to lead the school in its then-82-year history.

In July 2022, Nance was once again called to leadership as the law school dean. Her impact as a professor, mentor and leader has shaped generations of students who have gone on to excel as lawyers, educators and public servants.

"To be recognized with the Kutak Award and elected to the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame is both humbling and profoundly meaningful," Nance said. "Throughout my career, I have been guided by remarkable mentors, supported by wonderful colleagues and inspired by countless students whose determination and achievements give me hope for the future. I am grateful for these honors and remain committed to advancing excellence, opportunity and service in our profession and our communities."

More About Nance

Nance is a Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and immediate past president of its Board of Governors, the first woman of color to serve in that role. She serves on the American Bar Association Board of Governors, including its Pension Committee, and is a member of the ABA House of Delegates. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and The Labor Law Group, where she recently completed service on the Executive Committee. She also served for six years on the Arkansas Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights. A past chair of the American Bar Foundation Fellows, she currently serves as a state chair and is a former Eighth Circuit member of the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary.

An Arkansas Television Commissioner, Nance has also served on the Arkansas Bar Foundation Trust Committee and on the Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, including service on its 2025-2026 Special Advisory Committee. Her additional legal service includes the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty and the National Association for Law Placement Foundation Board. She was appointed by the Arkansas Supreme Court to the Arkansas Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program Committee, on which she currently serves.

Nance has demonstrated a strong commitment to expanding access to legal education through her philanthropy. She endowed the Eual Dean and Fern Nance Scholarship at the U of A School of Law in honor of her parents and established the Dennis Shields Scholarship at the University of Iowa College of Law, recognizing the admissions leader who first opened the door to her legal education.

Nance has been widely recognized for her service and leadership. Her honors include the 2025 Sistas-in-Law Lifetime Achievement Award and Flame of Justice Awards; the 2024 John L. Colbert Lifetime Achievement Award from the Northwest Arkansas Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Council and Arkansas JLAP Distinguished Service Award; the 2023 Association of American Law Schools' Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Achievement Award and the Carrying on the Legacy Award from the Harold Flowers Law Society; the 2021 Richard S. Arnold Award for Distinguished Service in the Western District of Arkansas from the Eighth Circuit Bar Association and the University of Iowa Hancher-Finkbine Medallion; the 2018 American Bar Association Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award; the 2017 Arkansas Bar Association Presidential Award of Excellence; and Alpha Kappa Alpha's Mary Louise Williams Guiding Star for Public Service Award.

She has received the Northwest Arkansas Martin Luther King, Jr. Commission Individual Achievement Award and has been recognized as one of Diverse Issues in Higher Education's "25 Women Making a Difference," a "Woman of Influence" by Arkansas Business and one of the most influential lawyers on Twitter by On Being a Black Lawyer. She has also been named one of Arkansas' "12 Most Powerful Women" by AY Magazine and Talk Business & Politics. Nance is the inaugural recipient of the Harold Flowers Association's Judge Andree Layton Roaf Award of Excellence and a recipient of the U of A Women Law Students' Gayle Pettus Pontz Award.