The University of Illinois College of Law is thrilled to welcome five new faculty members to our roster this fall.  

Sara Gerke joins Illinois as an Associate Professor of Law and Richard W. & Marie L. Corman Scholar. Her research focuses on the ethical and legal challenges of artificial intelligence and big data for health care and health law in the United States and Europe. She also researches comparative law and ethics of other issues at the cutting edge of medical developments, such as the clinical translation of stem cell research, biological products, such as somatic cells, tissues, and gene therapy, reproductive medicine, such as mitochondrial replacement techniques, and digital health more generally. Professor Gerke has over 60 publications in health law and bioethics, and her work has appeared in leading law, medical, scientific, and bioethics journals. Professor Gerke earned a JD from University of Augsburg and an MA from King’s College London.  

Bill Watson joins Illinois as an Assistant Professor of Law. His work has focused on the intersection of public law and philosophy and has appeared or is forthcoming in law reviews like the Northwestern University Law Review and Boston University Law Review, as well as peer-reviewed journals like Law and Philosophy and Legal Theory. He is currently working on projects that address originalism in constitutional interpretation, the import of legal positivism for legal interpretation, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent treatment of precedent. Professor Watson received his JD from the University of Chicago Law School and his PhD in Philosophy from Cornell University. He was a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School immediately prior to joining the University of Illinois faculty. 

Jingkang (Jake) Gao joins Illinois as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law. In his work, he has explored how legal institutions can make urban mobility safer, cleaner, more accessible, and more equitable, and how insights from urban mobility can enrich the study of law. He has applied his background in law in his work with the Chicago Transit Authority on facilitating bus electrification and cultivating a healthier electric bus market in the United States. Professor Gao earned his JD from Columbia Law School and his PhD and an MS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Maxim Krupskiy joins Illinois as a Visiting Scholar, as part of the Illinois Scholars at Risk program. He has more than twelve years of experience practicing law in Russia defending refugees and civil activists and, as an independent expert, has prepared more than forty independent anti-corruption expert opinions. Krupskiy recently spent time as a Visiting Scholar at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a Non-Resident Fellow at the George Washington University, Russia Program.   

Benjamin Horton joins Illinois as a Visiting Lecturer in Law and Stanton Fellow with our First Amendment Clinic. He was inspired to pursue a legal education during the 2016 presidential election and focused his education on free expression and election issues, participating in several clinics and interning for the Center for Democracy and Technology. After completing his JD at Harvard Law School, Horton spent a year with Free Speech For People, an election litigation nonprofit, and two years clerking in the District of Massachusetts. 

The College of Law is proud to have these individuals joining our faculty and looks forward to their accomplishments as part of the University of Illinois.