Jessica Dixon Weaver is the Associate Dean for Research and Professor of Law. Professor Weaver teaches Family Law, Advanced Family Law, Professional Responsibility, and Children and the Law. She joined the tenure track faculty in 2009 and became the first African American female to earn tenure at SMU Dedman School of Law in 2015. She is an expert in child welfare law and public policy, and much of her scholarship focuses on theorizing methods for improvement of the legal systems and policies affecting families and children. She received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.
