This week the University of Illinois College of Law named nine Leadership Scholars from among the students at the College of Law. All nine Leadership Scholars recently completed the College of Law’s Leadership Project. The College launched the Leadership Project in January of 2021, with a goal of equipping its students to take on a role that many lawyers find themselves in – that of a leader. The nine Leadership Scholars are:

Soha M. AbdurRahman
Megan E. Archibald
Alex Bailey
Lauren Eiten
Alexander J. Pullen
Jessica Pullen
Akshay Soman
Eric F. Walliser
Ori Weisz

“Today’s legal profession is immersed in a complex set of legal issues, people, and relationships, and as a result well-trained lawyers need to develop and utilize strong leadership and management skills,” noted Vik Amar, dean of the College of Law. “The Leadership Project is designed to begin a conversation about leadership and give our students building blocks for future leadership success,” Amar added.

Executive Assistant Dean for Career Planning and Professional Development, Greg Miarecki, serves as the director of the Leadership Project. “It has been a pleasure working with all nine of our Leadership Scholars this year. All of them have demonstrated strong leadership skills at the College, and we look forward to seeing them impact their world with those skills in the future,” Miarecki added.

As part of the Leadership Project, Leadership Project Scholars interacted with a number of well-known leaders. Akshay Soman, a Leadership Scholar and the College of Law’s Student Bar Association president in 2021-22, co-moderated a session with former Governor Jim Edgar in November of 2021. “Conversations with these well-respected leaders allowed me to extrapolate useful skills that I will use in my own experiences as a leader throughout my career,” Soman noted.

The Project also encouraged vigorous debate and discussion among participating students in a number of different ways.

“Being a leader can take many forms but there are certain leadership qualities all leaders must develop and hone. The Leadership Project helps student leaders identify their leadership strengths and weaknesses through book discussions, lectures, and a capstone workshop. Through discussion and debate, student leaders develop the skills necessary to take on leadership roles in their future firms, non-profits, in-house positions, or governmental roles,” explained Lauren Eiten, a Leadership Scholar and the College of Law’s Student Bar Association president in 2020-21.

More information about the Project is available online. Questions about the Project may be directed to miarecki@illinois.edu.