Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt, Sylvia E. Bowman award

Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt Willard and Margaret Carr Professor of Labor and Employment Law School of Law—Bloomington University Graduate School IU Bloomington

IU Bloomington Chancellor Sharon Brehm, Dau-Schmidt and Interim President Gerald Bepko at the Founders Day ceremony

Kenneth Dau-Schmidt treats his classes so outrageously that in no time, they’re picketing, filing complaints and organizing unions. In elaborate simulations lasting all semester, Dau-Schmidt “morphs” into a hard-nosed employer who “hires” students for his mock corporations, Labor Law, Inc., or Employment Law, Inc. A few students rotate as corporate counsel defending “President” Dau-Schmidt, who does his best to commit disreputable labor practices for students to identify and counter. It’s hardly one-sided, as President Dau-Schmidt also has been slapped with frivolous suits from disgruntled employees. In spite of his flagrant attempts to block them (and to his delight), labor law classes have organized the fictitious “United Mind Workers” and “Indiana Law Student Union of Exam-Takers”—“IL SUE,” for short.

Articles describing Dau-Schmidt’s innovative techniques have appeared in the Journal of Higher Education, the Christian Science Monitor, and the Chicago Sun-Times. IU has honored his efforts with a Teaching Excellence Recognition Award.

A session at a legal conference inspired the idea of using simulations in the classroom. Until then, he had taught successfully with traditional methods, which he still uses in other classes, including Antitrust Law and Pensions and Employment Benefits. Nor does he disdain conventional legal textbooks. As a member of “The Labor Group,” an international consortium of experts who analyze curricula and prepare law texts, Dau-Schmidt has co-authored three books on employment law, labor law, and law and economics.

Dau-Schmidt encourages students to use law to serve society. When he realized that students needed a course in poverty law, he developed one. For his considerable efforts in advising students in public interest pursuits, he received the law school’s Leonard D. Fromm Public Interest Award.

In spite of his flagrant attempts to block them (and to his delight), Dau-Schmidt’s labor law classes have organized the fictitious ‘United Mind Workers’ and ‘Indiana Law Student Union of Exam-Takers’—‘IL SUE,’ for short.