UF Law staff members, from left, Ron Perry, Michelle Ocepek, Christopher Ambrose, Lena Hinson, Kari Mattox, Robert Horn, Minnie Lindsey, Theresa Sturzenbecker and Trudi Reid are joined by Dean Robert Jerry in a ceremony recognizing their service. (Photo by Elise Giordano)

By Elise Giordano
Student writer

Dean Robert Jerry awarded UF Law staff members service pins during a recognition ceremony held in the Rare Book room on Thursday.

Lena Hinson and Robert Horn were awarded 25-year-pins.

Hinson began her law school career in 1987 in the Graduate Tax Program. She worked with the tax program for 13 years and then moved to a supervisory position with Graduate Admissions in Criser Hall. In 2006 she returned to the law school and serves as program assistant to both the International Studies Program and the LL.M. in Environmental & Land Use Law Program.

Robert Horn began working at UF Law for the Physical Plant, where he was in charge of ordering and receiving supplies. He came to UF Law in 1997 as a program assistant and became a maintenance specialist in 2011.

Ron Perry and Trudi Reid received 20-year-pins.

Trudi Reid began working in the Graduate Tax Program of UF Law in December 1992 and was hired permanently in 1993 as a secretary.  She was promoted to the Alumni Affairs Office, and later to the Graduate Tax Program as admissions officer and assistant editor to the Florida Tax Review where she has been for the last nine years.

Ron Perry graduated from UF Law in 1982 and has been employed at the Legal Information Center since 1995. He handles interlibrary loan requests and assists in circulation and with the digital commons project.

Linda Kirby was awarded a 15-year-pin. Kirby has been with the Graduate Tax Program at UF Law since 1998, spending most of her time as the office manager. She has assisted with the admission, academic progression and graduation of nearly 1,200 LL.M. students and has served as the assistant editor of the Florida Tax Review.

Theresa Sturzenbecker received a 10-year-pin. She began working for UF Law in January 2002 with the Legal Information Center in Technical Services. In 2012 she was promoted to library associate II, which requires her to order all library materials, manage the library’s management system and the University’s financial management system.

Christopher Ambrose, Minnie Lindsey, Kari Mattox and Michelle Ocepek received five-year-pins.

Ambrose began working with the law school in May of 2007 with the Communications Office as webmaster and would later be transferred to Technology Services. He is now a part-time Help Desk technician and part-time developer for the department.

Lindsey is in charge of organizing information for the book award ceremony and assists students with any questions they may have.  Lindsey also works closely with Debra Hyatt in ensuring exam information is collected.

Mattox graduated from the Levin College of Law in 2001 and went on to earn a Ph.D. in higher education administration. She returned to UF Law in May of 2008 and was named assistant dean for students.

Ocepek arrived at UF Law in 2007, after earning a B.S. in social work from Ashland University and a master’s in college student personnel from Bowling Green State University. Ocepek now works in Student Affairs as director of student programs, working with students on orientation, student organizations and study abroad.

Fall 2010 New and Visiting Faculty and Staff

Tom C.W. Lin
Tom Lin has joined the faculty as an assistant professor of law. His current scholarship and teaching interests are in the areas of business law, securities regulation and behavioral law and economics. He was previously an instructor of law at Brooklyn Law School in New York. Prior to entering academia, Professor Lin practiced law at the New York State Attorney General’s Office, Davis Polk & Wardwell and Dewey Ballantine. He is a graduate of New York University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he served as an advanced legal writing instructor and senior editor of the Journal of Constitutional Law and the Journal of Law and Social Change.

Rachel Rebouché
Rachel Rebouché has joined the UF Law faculty as an assistant professor teaching family law and comparative family law. For the 2010-11 academic year, she will be an affiliated faculty member with the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. Prior to joining UF, she was the associate director of adolescent health programs at the National Partnership for Women & Families and an adjunct professor at American University Washington College of Law. Rebouché received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, LL. M. in international law from Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland and B.A. in politics and sociology from Trinity University. Following graduation from law school, she clerked for Justice Kate O’Regan on the Constitutional Court of South Africa and completed a fellowship at the National Women’s Law Center. Before law school, she was a researcher for the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and a research associate at the Human Rights Centre of Queen’s University, Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Paul Gugliuzza
Paul has joined the faculty as a visiting legal skills professor, teaching appellate advocacy and legal research and writing. Gugliuzza completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Oklahoma, and graduated summa cum laude from Tulane University School of Law, where he served as managing editor of the Tulane Law Review. After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Ronald M. Gould on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Gugliuzza joins the faculty directly from the Washington, D.C. office of Jones Day, where he was a member of the firm’s Issues and Appeals practice group.

Mark Snider
Mark D. Snider has joined the faculty as the interim visiting assistant professor in tax. Snider received his J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Illinois in 1986 and obtained his LL.M. degree from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2009. He was a partner at two leading Chicago based law firms, where he practiced for more than 12 years working on complex business and financing transactions. He also worked for several years as the general counsel of a national service company, headquartered in Florida and with business locations throughout the United States, and as a partner in a law firm based in South Florida. He is admitted to practice in both Illinois and Florida.

Debra Hyatt
Debra Hyatt has joined the staff as the new registrar. She joins UF Law from Florida Atlantic University where she worked in student affairs for more than five years. A native of Tampa, Hyatt has a bachelor’s degree from UF and a master’s degree from Nova Southeastern University. She is excited about her return to Gainesville and her alma mater after living in South Florida for eight years. “Gainesville has always been like a second home to me, so it’s a thrill to be able to come back and work at the law school,” she said.

Shira Megerman
Shira Megerman joins the staff as the newest student services librarian. She comes to Gainesville from Kansas City, Mo. Megerman is available for research assistance and all student-related matters. Her office is located at HOL 175B and can be contacted at megermans@law.ufl.edu.

Grace Northern
Grace Northern joins the staff as the associate director of Development and Alumni Affairs. Northern comes to Gainesville from Washington, D.C., where she worked at the White House as Assistant to the Director of Presidential Personnel. In this capacity, Northern worked with senior members of the White House staff to identify and fill presidential appointments across the administration. Prior to her time at the White House, Northern worked on the Presidential Transition Team. As one of the first employees of the Obama for America campaign, she worked in a variety of capacities in six states during the primary and through the general election, including Florida. Before entering politics, Northern worked in the Washington, D.C. office of the Glover Park Group, a large public affairs firm. A native of Louisville, Ky., Grace received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Xavier University in Cincinnati.

Whitney Smith
Whitney Smith joins the staff as the new communications coordinator and editor of FlaLaw Online and UF Law eNews. Smith previously worked at The Gainesville Sun. She has experience in graphic and page design, online content management, editing and news and feature writing. Smith has worked on various publications before, during and after her years as a journalism student at UF and is thrilled to learn about the internal relations of the Levin College of Law and its students, faculty and staff. Feel free to contact her at smithw@law.ufl.edu or 273-0652. Smith replaces Katie Blasewitz, now working in Washington, D.C., as the electronic marketing and communications specialist at The Optical Society.

Matt Walker
Matt Walker has joined the staff as the new media relations manager in the Office of Communications at the law school. Walker brings years of journalism experience to the position, and has worked as a writer, reporter, columnist and magazine editor in Florida, Georgia and California. He will be responsible for running a vigorous reactive and proactive media relations program, including planning and implementing publicity programs, writing and disseminating press releases, and writing for UF LAW magazine and other publications. He can be reached at mlwalker@law.ufl.edu or 273-0653. Walker replaces Scott Emerson, who left the law school for a full-time position with the USDA.

Jennifer Wondracek
Jennifer Wondracek has joined the Legal Information Center as the new instructional services reference librarian. She will be working with faculty on distance learning course creation and other instructional issues. Wondracek also will be teaching legal research, both online and in the classroom, and joining the reference staff to help meet the needs of the LIC patrons. Wondracek came from Elon University School of Law in Greensboro, N.C., where she held the position of reference and government documents librarian. She obtained her MLIS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s online program in 2006 and has been a law librarian ever since. Prior to becoming a librarian, Wondracek obtained her law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law and practiced law in North Carolina. Wondracek recently co-authored an Issue Brief on the new exemptions for the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s restriction on circumventing technological access controls for the American Association of Law Libraries. She plans to continue her research on copyright law and the interaction of technology and the law.