NIU Law Professor David Taylor Named 2006 Presidential Teaching Professor
April 13, 2006
DeKalb, Ill. - Northern Illinois University Law Professor David Taylor was named a 2006 Presidential Teaching Professor. This recognition is the highest honor for teaching bestowed by NIU. Professor Taylor is the first NIU Law professor to receive this distinction. "This is truly a distinct honor that recognizes excellence in teaching. We are proud to see Professor Taylor included among the most outstanding educators at NIU," remarked NIU Law Dean LeRoy Pernell. "As reflected by his students' reverence for him, Professor Taylor's guidance has played a significant role in their development as attorneys, even after they leave his classroom."
Begun in 1990, Presidential Teaching Professorships recognize outstanding teachers among the faculty. The selection committee seeks information from colleagues, peers, and past students. Each recipient receives a monetary award and an annual grant during their four-year appointment to help improve their teaching. After four years, they become Distinguished Teaching Professors.
Professor Taylor's involvement with NIU began in the Prairie State Legal Services office in Rockford, where he worked as a legal aid attorney representing indigent people in civil matters and welcomed NIU Law students for externships. In his role as the deputy director of litigation, Professor Taylor trained new attorneys, so the transition into academia was a "logical connection" for him. Initially a visiting professor for several years, Professor Taylor joined the NIU Law faculty full-time in 1992.
Professor Taylor teaches Civil Procedure, Evidence, Lawyering Skills and Trial Advocacy. Professor Taylor also trains and coaches extramural teams in client counseling, moot court, trial advocacy, and negotiation competitions. His teams have experienced much success, finishing as high as second in the nation. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Professor Taylor serves as director of skills training. As director, he oversees the skills curriculum and the Zeke Giorgi Legal Clinic in Rockford, where he supervises staff attorneys and third-year law students who provide legal services to Winnebago County residents with limited access to legal representation.
When it comes to teaching, Professor Taylor follows the philosophy: The practical informs the theoretical, and the theoretical explains the practical.
"I try to approach teaching with two things in mind. As a professional school, law involves students learning legal method, analyzing a legal problem and arriving at a solution. At the same time, it's also teaching students how to actually be a practitioner. I try to work both of those things into every course I teach," Taylor says.
Professor Taylor, of Rockford, earned his law degree at Washington University School of Law in 1980 and his undergraduate degree from Duke University in 1976.
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