Professor Heller and Dean Shealy: New chapters

With nearly 70 years of service combined, Faye Shealy, associate dean for admission, and Jim Heller, director of The Wolf Law Library, announced their retirements upon completion of the 2018–19 academic year.

On One Tribe One Day in May, alumni honored them with gifts and pledges supporting initiatives close to their hearts, including scholarships and libraries. If you would like to honor Faye and Jim’s many years of incredible service, visit our giving page.

• Faye joined W&M Law in October 1982 and went on to enroll 37 classes and 7,494 J.D. students. That meant reviewing 135,104 applications and extending 36,335 offers of admission.
• Since 1988, Jim hired 55 library staff, added nearly 200,000 titles and audio-visual items to the collection, wrote three books, served 83 times on national library committees (23 times as chair), and worked 2,700 hours at the reference desk. He also supervised planning for construction of The Wolf Law Library and the Hixon Center wing.
• In 2013, Faye was made an honorary alumna of William & Mary. Barbara Cole Joynes, president of the Alumni Association, welcomed her into the fold.
• The Law School celebrated the dedication of The Wolf Law Library in 2007. “It’s been a long time coming,” Jim said at the event, quoting Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. With typical playfulness, he then told students, “We hope you like what we built for you—and, please keep your feet off the couches.” A leadership gift from Hank C. ’66 and Dixie Wolf made construction of the new library possible.
• During her final graduation ceremony as associate dean in May 2019, Faye congratulated each of her admits after they received their diplomas.
• Upon finishing the teaching of his last class in spring 2019, Jim walked directly into one of the Law School’s long-standing traditions: a gauntlet of faculty, staff and students gathered to applaud him for his years of service.

About William & Mary Law School

Thomas Jefferson founded William & Mary Law School in 1779 to train leaders for the new nation. Now in its third century, America's oldest law school continues its historic mission of educating citizen lawyers who are prepared both to lead and to serve.