Our Attorneys
Beth A. Harris
Beth A. Harris is Vice President and General Counsel, responsible for providing legal representation and counsel to all units of the University. In addition to advising the President and the Board of Trustees, she works closely with deans and senior administrators and participates in the President’s leadership group. Beth also serves on the Boards of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools and the University of Chicago Charter Schools, and is General Counsel and Secretary of UChicago Argonne, LLC, the entity created by the University to manage the Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory.
Beth has practiced in the areas of higher education and health care for over 25 years and in the Office of Legal Counsel at the University of Chicago for the past 16 years. Prior to her role at the University, she was Associate General Counsel in the legal office at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Before joining the Medical Center, she had a corporate and securities practice at a law firm in Chicago.
Beth has a B.A. in Human Development from the University of Chicago, an M.A. in Psychology from the University of Houston, and a J.D. from Northwestern University. She serves on the board of the National Association of College and University Attorneys, and is a member of The Economic Club of Chicago and The Chicago Network, an organization of metropolitan Chicago's most distinguished professional women. Active in the Hyde Park community, Beth is a director and past president of the Hyde Park School of Dance. She is married and has three children.
Russell J. Herron
Russell J. Herron is an Associate General Counsel. His primary areas of practice include corporate and business matters, and research, technology transfer and intellectual property issues. His work at the University includes service on numerous committees, including the Select Agent Institutional Biosafety Committee, the BSD Institutional Review Board, the IRB Council, the Clinical Research Policy Board and its Executive Committee, and the University of Chicago Medical Center Compliance Committee. Before joining the University in 2001, Russ was an attorney in the Chicago law firm D’Ancona & Pflaum LLC, where his practice focused on mergers and acquisitions, securities and venture capital transactions. He is a graduate, with honors, of the University of Michigan and a 1995 cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan Law School. He lives in Chicago with his wife and their two daughters.
Glenn E. McKeown
Glenn E. McKeown is an Associate General Counsel who joined the Office of Legal Counsel in 2003. He provides counsel and legal advice for the University in the areas of national laboratories, export controls, general transactional work, and employee benefit plans. Glenn serves on the Radiation Safety Committee, and the Radioisotopes and Radioactive Drug Research Advisory Committee. Prior to joining the University, Glenn spent seven years as an Attorney for BP Amoco (now B.P.), then worked at Sears, Roebuck and Co. as Associate General Counsel. He has an A.B. in Political Science from Columbia University, a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Additionally, he serves on the NACUA membership committee, the board of the Department of Energy Contractor Attorneys Association, and the board of the Congo Square Theatre.
Bruce W. Melton
Bruce W. Melton is an Associate General Counsel who provides counsel in a variety of areas including government relations, institutional policies and procedures, internal investigations, litigation, employment, faculty matters, and diversity initiatives across the campus. He is a member of the University’s Emergency Management Committee and its Data Stewardship Council; he also serves ex officio to the University’s Diversity Leadership Council. Prior to joining the University in 2007, Bruce was a founding partner of a Chicago law firm that represented colleges and universities in litigation and counseling matters. Bruce graduated from Cornell College magna cum laude; he is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1986, where he served as an Associate Editor of the Law Review. Bruce is a Lecturer in the Law School and he teaches higher education law in Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy. He lives in Hinsdale with his wife, Julienne (Pritzker School of Medicine ’86), and their two sons.
Robert H. Rush
Robert H. Rush is an Associate General Counsel who joined the Office of Legal Counsel in 2006. He provides counsel and legal advice for the University in the areas of real estate transactions, community and governmental affairs, procurement services, and university development. Rob serves on the Independent Review Committee for the University of Chicago Police Department. Prior to joining the University, Rob worked as an attorney in private practice, specializing in corporation law and mergers and acquisitions. He has a B.A. in Art History from Bates College, an M.A. in Art History from the University of Chicago, and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.
Elizabeth L. Shanin
Elizabeth L. Shanin is an Associate General Counsel who joined the Office of Legal Counsel in 2007. She provides counsel in areas including litigation, internal investigations, design and construction law, and student matters. Prior to joining the University, Liz clerked for the Honorable Amy J. St. Eve, U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, and worked as an attorney at the law firm of Sidley Austin LLP, where she specialized in commercial litigation. She holds a B.A. from Washington University (Phi Beta Kappa) and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, where she served as a member of the Chicago Journal of International Law.
Theodore C. Stamatakos
Theodore Stamatakos is Associate General Counsel. He joined the Office of Legal Counsel in 2004. His primary areas of responsibility are faculty and staff employment matters, litigation, policy development and compliance, investigations and audits, academic fraud, and campus life issues (including student affairs, campus security and premises liability). Ted also serves on a committee charged with protecting the rights and welfare of human subjects recruited to participate in medial research studies (BSD-IRB), a committee that develops University-wide human resources policies (the Personnel Policy Committee), and a committee that assesses and supports impaired physicians (the Physician’s Assistance Committee). Additionally, the Provost has appointed Ted to serve on employment- and student life-related task forces. Before joining the University, Ted worked for two years as Law Clerk to U.S. District Judge Alan Nevas (District of Connecticut), and for twelve years at Seyfarth Shaw (Chicago), where he practiced employment law as an associate and a partner. Ted has an A.B. degree (cum laude, philosophy) from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), and a J.D. degree (cum laude) from Indiana University (Bloomington), where he was a managing editor of the Law Journal.