Danielle Conway

Danielle Monique Conway In late July 2026 the Law School announced that she would be leaving her post and returning to academia.

Some believe that the somewhat abrupt departure may have to do with the congressional task force hearings on law school accreditation. A former student testified against the mandatory first year course on Critical Race Theory and admission of continued and systemic racism.

Background Born in Pennsylvania, Conway is an African-American. She graduated with a B.S. in International Business and Finance from New York University in New York City in 1989, later earning a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., in 1992 and a dual LL.M. from George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., in 1996, in Government Procurement Law and Environmental Law.

Career Her scholarship is focused on advancing the public interest through insights into technology and innovation and their impact on modern society. She is an advocate of "social entrepreneurism," with an emphasis on empowering Indigenous Peoples and minority groups to effectively and creatively use business, innovation, and intellectual property rights and protections to build capacity within those communities. Prior to her appointment at Penn State Dickinson Law, she served as the Dean of University of Maine School of Law Conway retired from the U.S. Army in 2016 with the rank of lieutenant colonel after 27 years of combined active, reserve, and national guard service.

She is also the President of the Association of American Law Schools. Licensing Intellectual Property: Theory and Application Intellectual Property, Entrepreneurship and Social Justice: From Swords to Ploughshares