New General Counsel Martha West

By Michelle N. Sweetman

The AAUP is pleased to announce that Martha S. West, professor of law emeritus at the University of California, Davis, will become the Association’s general counsel starting August 1. The general counsel, who is appointed to a two-year term, remains in his or her position while serving the AAUP. West will work closely with the AAUP’s legal staff to pursue the Association’s legal activities, which include advising faculty, administrators, lawyers, and others on higher education legal issues; preparing amicus briefs; monitoring legal developments in higher education around the  country; and keeping the Association apprised of new and emerging legal issues that may have implications in areas such as labor and employment law, freedom of expression, and intellectual property rights. West earned a bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University and a JD from the Indiana University Bloomington School of Law.
 
Throughout her career, West has worked for the advancement of women and the prevention of sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination. She has been a dedicated member of the AAUP since 1996. West was a member of the national Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession (previously called Committee W) from 1996 to 2002, and has remained as a consultant to that committee since 2002. She chaired a subcommittee that drafted the Statement of Principles on Family Responsibilities and Academic Work, which was adopted as AAUP policy in 2001. West has also served as a member of the Association’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure (2002–05) and as chair of the Legal Defense Fund (1998–2002).

“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.”

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