Bernadette Meyler, Cornell assistant professor of law, has won the 2007 Anne Lukingbeal Award. The annual award celebrates individual contributions to the positive experience of women at the Cornell Law School and serves as an enduring tribute to Anne Lukingbeal, associate dean and dean of students at the Law School, who was the award's first winner in 1999.

At the award ceremony earlier this month, first-year students from Meyler's constitutional law class commented on her "support of students and highly engaging" demeanor in class, "making it easy to turn to her for advice and to view her as a friend and mentor."

During the ceremony, Meyler encouraged female students to demand more from the legal profession, both collectively and individually.

Meyler also is the adviser for the Ms. JD organization at Cornell. She shares her wisdom with women in law schools all over the country by contributing to the Ms. JD blog and by speaking at the "Legally Female" conference that launched the blog.

Meyler is one of the youngest tenure-track faculty members at Cornell and the only female tenure-track professor at the Law School, serving as an important role model for female students considering academic careers.

Meyler received her J.D. from Stanford Law School (2003) and a Ph.D. in English (2006) from the University of California-Irvine. She clerked for Judge Robert A. Katzmann, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, before joining the Cornell law faculty in 2004.