For Release: July 31, 2008.
For more information, contact: Martha West .
Washington, D.C.— The AAUP is pleased to announce the appointment of Martha S. West as the Association’s general counsel. The appointment takes effect on August 1. West earned a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and a JD from the Indiana University Bloomington School of Law. She is professor of law emeritus at the University of California, Davis.
As general counsel, West will work closely with the AAUP’s legal staff to pursue the Association’s legal activities, such as advising faculty, administrators, lawyers, and others on higher education legal issues, preparing amicus briefs and monitoring legal developments in higher education around the country.
Throughout her career, West has worked for the advancement of women and the prevention of sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination. She chaired a subcommittee that drafted the AAUP’s Statement of Principles on Family Responsibilities and Academic Work. West has also served as a member of the Association’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure and as chair of AAUP’s Legal Defense Fund.
“I am honored to be asked to serve as general counsel for the AAUP,” West says. “As the premier body representing faculty in higher education, the AAUP will continue to build on and expand its historic role in defining the standards under which faculty live and work. I look forward to assisting the AAUP in that process.”
When asked about her goals as general counsel, West speaks of the threats to higher education that she hopes to address while serving the Association. “With increasing budgetary pressures on higher education, and the challenges to academic freedom presented by the current U.S. government’s security concerns, the AAUP and faculty everywhere will face difficult issues in the years ahead. I welcome the opportunity to work with the AAUP as we seek new ways for faculty to help strengthen higher education throughout the United States.”
The American Association of University Professors is a nonprofit charitable and educational organization that promotes academic freedom by supporting tenure, academic due process, and standards of quality in higher education. The AAUP has about 47,000 members at colleges and universities throughout the United States.