April Dawson is the inaugural Associate Dean of Technology and Innovation and a Professor of Law at North Carolina Central University School of Law and oversees the operation of the NCCU Technology Law & Policy Center. She is the author of the recently published book, Artificial Intelligence and Academic Integrity. Dawson received her undergraduate degree in computer science from Bennett College and was a computer programmer before attending law school. She received her law degree cum laude from Howard University School of Law in 1994 and joined the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) through its Attorney General’s Honors Program immediately after law school. While at DOJ, she argued cases before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits.
In 1996, Dawson served as a law clerk to the Honorable Emmet G. Sullivan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Dawson teaches and has taught a wide range of law school classes, including Artificial Intelligence and the Law, Legal Technology Equity & Leadership, Constitutional Law, Supreme Court Seminar, and Torts, and has been voted Professor of the Year multiple times.
Dawson is a member of the ABA Center for Innovation Governing Council and Vice Chair of the North Carolina Bar Association Future of Law Committee. She is also a member of the North Carolina Governor’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice and vice chair of the Board of Directors for Democracy NC. Dawson also co-hosts the Legal Eagle Review radio show with her colleague, Irving Joyner, on WNCU 90.7 FM, in which weekly interviews shed light on law-related local, state, and national concerns.
