WJA 2023: Katherine Scannell

Vice Dean for Institutional Success
Washington University

From a young age, when Katherine Scannell shared her career aspirations, her mom, Patricia, would tell her: get a college degree first — “then you can talk with me about what you want to do with your life,” Scannell recalled.

Patricia raised Scannell by herself and spent 18 years working at Washington University to get tuition benefits for her daughter. (She later obtained a bachelor’s degree in health care administration from Webster University.)

That emphasis on education not only inspired Scannell to attend WashU as an undergraduate and to obtain a law degree at University of Missouri, it also motivated Scannell to work in the academic world and help students.

She has spent 15 years at the WashU School of Law in a variety of roles, most recently as vice dean for institutional success.

“I really thought it would be fun to help educate students on what the possibilities are … and help them be ambitious in those pursuits,” Scannell said.

After graduating law school, Scannell spent two years as a criminal defense attorney and then trial work on the plaintiff’s side. In one case, she represented a construction worker who was badly injured when he was standing on a ladder and struck a live electrical wire. It turned out the company had violated the building code and Scannell was able to obtain a settlement on behalf of her client.

“I always liked helping individuals in cases. I found that very rewarding whether they were employment discrimination cases or an individual” such as the worker, Scannell said.

When Scannell took the job at WashU in 2008, she thought it would be a detour and she didn’t intent to quit practicing law, she said.

But she remained at the school because of her ability to help students. In November 2022, the school announced that it would implement one of Scannell’s ideas: to provide full scholarships to law students whose family income is less than 200% of the federal poverty level.

“WashU has for years been very generous in scholarships,” Scannell said. “But we felt like we could do a little bit more and make sure that that we could make fantastic legal education possible for anyone who is admitted.”

The scholarship program is also customized based on recipients’ needs and could include childcare and mentorship services.

Scannell said her experience in college motivated her to spearhead the new initiative.

“I think a first-generation student a lot has a little bit of impostor syndrome, and I think helping build that confidence and those skills” is important, Scannell said. “My goal would be to open those doors up for students coming along now who are in a similar situation to what I was.”