A Message from Dean Matthew
It is with the heaviest of hearts that I inform you of the death of one of our most beloved faculty members, Susan R. Jones, Professor of Clinical Law. Professor Jones, who served as Director and Supervising Attorney of GW Law’s Small Business & Community Economic Development Clinic since 1988, was the Clinical Program's longest-serving faculty member. Her passing leaves a void that will be deeply felt by all who had the privilege of knowing her.
Professor Jones will be remembered not just as an impactful lawyer, but as a pioneer in legal academia. She was one of the first Black women transactional clinicians in the country, teaching students about the possibilities and power of transactional law to create, support, and grow neighborhood small businesses, nonprofit organizations, worker cooperatives, and social enterprises. She produced work that was both cutting-edge and practical. Her most recent book, Investing for Social Impact, Economic Justice, and Racial Equity, for example, was one of the first community economic development books on impact investing.
Professor Jones’ international work further exemplified her dedication to advancing justice and equity on a global scale. In Fall 2023, she began her work as a Fulbright Specialist at Liverpool John Moores University in the United Kingdom where she showcased her expertise in community economic development, inspiring students and faculty alike. Her ability to bridge cultures and continents through her research was truly remarkable. She earned numerous recognitions for her work, including the Transform Mid-Atlantic's Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Civic & Community Engagement Award in recognition of her commitment to positive social change. She was awarded Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA) Lifetime Achievement Award for distinctive service to the greater Washington, DC, creative community and for her 20 years of service on the WALA Board of Directors.
Professor Jones was known throughout the GW Law community for her legal brilliance, her dedication, and her kindness. She cared deeply about her students, clients, and alumni, as well as about their ability to make formidable changes in DC and beyond. Her Clinic—the Small Business and Community Economic Development Clinic—as well as her client work, policy projects, and publications, exemplified her tireless efforts to create a more just and equitable society. She will be sorely missed by all who knew her.
With many thanks to Professor Andrea Johnson, we have learned that in lieu of flowers, the family asks that Professor Jones’ memory be honored with contributions to a scholarship fund named in honor of her mother, Dr. Shirley Jones, Emeritus at the University of Albany. Contributions can be made to the University of Albany Foundation. You can donate as I have through the link or send a check to the address below.
Checks can be sent to:
The University at Albany Foundation
1400 Washington Ave, UAB 226
Albany, NY 12222
Attn: Shirley Jones Opportunity Fund IMO Susan Jones
Tributes from Professor Jones' Colleagues
"This is such a heartbreaking loss for our community. I met Susan as a 1L, and shortly after became her Research Assistant until I graduated. As an alum, we wrote together, and I frequently called her when I had questions or needed to bounce ideas off of someone in corporate practice. She was extremely busy but always made time. Susan will always be remembered in my mind as a cheerleader, mentor, friend, and someone who was open to reimagining ways to improve broken legal and policy systems. She pushed students to firmly believe in the positive impact and changes they could see in the world with their careers as transactional lawyers. I am indebted to her for her generous spirit and deep investment in the attorney I am today."
- Andrea Johnson, Managing Attorney & Associate Program Director of the Jacob Burns Community Legal Clinics; Professorial Lecturer in Law
"Susan was simply an extraordinary scholar, teacher, member of the law school, AALS, and DC Community, and social justice engineer. Just as importantly, in the many decades that I knew her, Susan was always pleasant, tolerant, and thoughtful in even the most challenging circumstances and conversation. She was a jewel."
- Alfreda Robinson, Associate Dean for Trial Advocacy; Professorial Lecturer in Law; Co-Director of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Program
"It is very difficult to imagine a world - or a GW - without Susan in it. She was one of the best human beings imaginable and an inspiration to all who knew her."
- Theresa Gabaldon, Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law; Director of Academic Programs and Administration, C-LEAF
"I am deeply saddened to learn of Susan's passing. She was an excellent colleague and a thoroughly decent human being, giving the best of herself and seeing the best in others. I will miss her."
- Michael Abramowicz, Associate Dean for Strategy and Innovation; Oppenheim Professor of Law
- Susan R. Jones' Biography
Susan R. Jones is a Professor of Clinical Law and a member of the full-time faculty at The George Washington University Law School. Since 1988 she has been Director and Supervising Attorney of the Small Business & Community Economic Development Clinic (SBCED Clinic). She is an active member of the District of Columbia Bar having served as Vice-Chair to the DC Bar (CED) Pro Bono Project Advisory Committee. She was a 2006 Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Maryland School of Law and in 2003–2004 she was the Haywood Burns Visiting Chair in Civil Rights at the City University of New York School of Law at Queens College.
Professor Jones was the 2006 chair of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Clinical Legal Education and she served on the executive committee of that section and as chair of the Section on Africa. She was a member of the AALS Standing Committee on Clinical Legal Education and is a former chair of the AALS Section on Poverty Law. (She also served on the Executive Committee of the AALS Section on Transactional Law and Skills and as co-chair of the Transactional Clinics Committee of the AALS Clinical Section.)
In addition to her work with the AALS, Professor Jones has held numerous leadership positions in the American Bar Association (ABA) (including vice-chair of the Economic Justice Committee, Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice,) service on the governing committee of ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development Law, editor-in-chief and senior editor of the ABA Journal of Affordable Housing and Community Development Law and co-chair of the Forum’s Legal Educators’ Practice Division. She is a co-founder and past co-chair of the Community Economic Development Committee of the ABA Section on Business Law and she served on the ABA Business Law Education Committee as well as on the ABA Commission on Homelessness and Poverty.
Professor Jones is a Fannie Mae Foundation Fellow, Harvard University Kennedy School of Government (2002) and a member of Leadership Washington (1996).
Her scholarly pursuits include numerous published articles in the field of entrepreneurship and the law, small and microbusiness and community economic development.) She is the author of A Legal Guide to Microenterprise Development (ABA Publishing) and co-editor of Building Healthy Communities: A Guide to Community Economic Development for Advocates, Lawyers and Policymakers. Professor Jones was awarded Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts Lifetime Achievement Award for distinctive service to the greater Washington, DC creative community and for 20 years of service on the WALA Board of Directors. In addition to her scholarly and practical work in transactional law, small business, community economic development, microenterprise development, and social entrepreneurship, Professor Jones has research interests in community economic development, international/comparative community economic development, nonprofit organizations and charitable giving, minority entrepreneurship, arts and entertainment, and the creative economy and social entrepreneurship.