Stefanie A. Lindquist, professor and dean of the School of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, was installed Feb. 4 as the inaugural Nickerson Dean.
Lindquist is a nationally recognized constitutional law and U.S. Supreme Court expert. She assumed her role as dean of the school last July. Her installation address was titled “Charting New Frontiers: WashU Law and Generative AI.”
The deanship is named by alumnus Steven “Cash” Nickerson and his wife, Evie Nickerson. Cash is chairman and CEO of Nickerson Stoneleigh Inc., a Dallas-based private investment firm. A member of the university’s Board of Trustees, Nickerson is also president of Cash Nickerson PC, a law and negotiation consulting firm.
“Stefanie Lindquist is leading our School of Law into the future with her focus on generative artificial intelligence and its impact on the teaching and practice of law,” Chancellor Andrew D. Martin said. “Her leadership is helping to further advance WashU Law’s mission: equipping students to effectively and ethically practice law and pursue justice. I’m grateful to Cash and Evie Nickerson for their generous gift in helping us achieve those goals. With this support, they ensure that WashU School of Law will continue to be a powerful force for positive change.”
Before joining WashU Law, Lindquist held several posts at Arizona State University, including senior vice president for global academic initiatives and deputy provost and vice president for academic affairs. At ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and in the School of Politics and Global Studies, she served as the Foundation Professor of Law and Political Science.
Lindquist was dean and Arch Professor at the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs and held multiple faculty leadership positions at the University of Texas School of Law, including the Charles Alan Wright Chair in Law. Before her tenure at the University of Texas, Lindquist taught law and political science at Vanderbilt University. She has also served as a visiting faculty member at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.
Known for her expertise in judicial behavior and constitutional law, Lindquist has authored numerous influential publications and is a prominent voice in the legal community. She has co-authored three books and has authored dozens of published articles and book chapters. Her book “Measuring Judicial Activism” is the first publication to quantitatively define the oft-used term.
In addition to her scholarship, Lindquist’s teaching is highly regarded; she received the Robert Birkby Award for Excellence in Teaching Political Science during her tenure at Vanderbilt University, and while at the University of Georgia, she was named professor of the year and earned its universitywide teaching award.
While a law student at Temple University, Lindquist served as editor-in-chief of the Temple Law Review. After graduating magna cum laude, she clerked for Anthony J. Scirica, senior judge on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, and later practiced law at Latham and Watkins in Washington, D.C. She also served as a research associate at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, assisting committees of the Federal Judicial Conference in addressing questions of judicial administration.
About Cash Nickerson
Steven “Cash” Nickerson is chairman and CEO of Nickerson Stoneleigh Inc., a private investment firm he founded, with headquarters in Dallas. He is also president of Cash Nickerson PC, a law and negotiation consulting firm. He was chairman of North America of AKKA Technologies, based in Brussels, prior to its sale to Adecco SA, based in Zurich. He was president, chief financial officer, general counsel and the second-largest shareholder of PDS Tech Inc. prior to its sale to AKKA Technologies.
Previous roles include corporate attorney and marketing executive for Union Pacific Railroad, associate and then partner at top law firm Jenner & Block, and chairman and CEO of a tech company.
Nickerson, author of eight books, is an avid writer and speaker on negotiation, the workplace, jobs and the economy. Among his many talks, Nickerson spoke at Johns Hopkins University to the NASA employees working on the Hubble telescope about listening and was most recently a TEDx speaker in Hartford on “The Seven Tensions of Negotiation.” Nickerson is the founder and president of the David H. Nickerson Foundation, which supports prostate cancer research.
In addition to his leadership on WashU’s Board of Trustees, Nickerson is chair of the Law School National Council and is a member of the International Council of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute.
He is chair of both the Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin-San Antonio regional cabinets and served as chair of the north and central Texas regional campaign for Leading Together: The Campaign for Washington University. Nickerson is the recipient of the Dallas-Fort Worth Regional Award (2009), the Global Philanthropy Award for the Harris Institute Crimes Against Humanity Initiative (2010), the School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award (2013) and the Founders Day Distinguished Alumni Award (2014).
Nickerson earned a bachelor’s degree from Carleton College and a master’s of business administration and juris doctorate from Washington University, where he was an editor of the Washington University Law Review. He is currently a juris scientiae doctoris candidate and was recently appointed as a distinguished teaching professor at WashU Law, teaching business lawyering and negotiation.
Cash and his wife, Evie, have been married 43 years and have three children. All three attended WashU and two married WashU graduates. They have six grandchildren.
