Recently, three of our faculty members were recognized for their scholarly work. Professors Paul Callister and Daniel Weddle were awarded the UMKC Daniel L. Brenner Faculty Publishing Award and Professors Christopher Hoyt received an Excellence in Writing Award from the ABA.
The Daniel L. Brenner Faculty Publishing Award is presented to a full-time faculty member who has excelled in scholarship by writing an outstanding article or book published or accepted for publication during the preceding year. Selection of the award is made by a faculty committee with the assistance of the associate dean for faculty.
Professor Paul Callister joined UMKC in 2003 and is the Director of the Leon E. Bloch Law Library. He teaches Cyberlaw and Information Policy, Law Practice Technology, Document Assembly, and Copyright. Callister has improved the physical and electronic holdings at the law library and emphasized increasing instructional services and renovating the library’s ground floor to provided cutting-edge technology and facilities for legal research instruction. His article, “What Is Meant by Freedom?” was published in Pace Law Review (2017) and was awarded the UMKC Daniel L. Brenner Faculty Publishing Award. The uplifting piece states that freedom is overlooked as a legal and social concept and needs to be an ideal advanced by our social institutions, laws and customs. The article posits that freedom is a certain kind of relationship that exists between individuals and their kin, tribe, religious society, city, state, sovereign, or other body politic under conditions.
Professor Daniel Weddle joined UMKC Law in 1996 and served as the Director of Academic Support. His book/teaching materials for Practice Pack for Criminal Law (Wolters Kluwer 2017 was also recognized by the Daniel L. Brenner Faculty Publishing Award. Weddle teaches Governmental and Legal Aspects of Education, Legal Aspects of Higher Education, Scholarly Writing, Litigation Drafting, Practical Skills and Introduction to Lawyering Processes.
Finally, Professor Christopher Hoyt received the 2017 Excellence in Writing Award from the ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law’s Probate & Property Magazine with his article “Tax Savings with Income-Based Charitable Bequests.” Charitable bequests usually are viewed as providing estate tax savings but no income tax savings. Actually, the traditional charitable bequest represents a lost income tax saving opportunity. If properly structured, every charitable bequest can reduce the income tax liability of a trust, an estate, or their beneficiaries. Hoyt teaches courses in the areas of federal taxation, business organizations, retirement plans and tax-exempt organizations. He is currently the chair of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Lifetime and Testamentary Charitable Gift Planning (Section of Probate and Trust).