Cheryl Anderson
Professor Anderson has an extensive background in disability civil rights and discrimination law. She has authored numerous articles on the Americans with Disabilities Act and related laws, as well as sexual harassment law. In addition to Disability Law, Professor Anderson taught Constitutional Law (Individual Rights), Employment Discrimination, Employment Law, Labor Law, Civil Rights, and Advanced Appellate Advocacy. For over twenty years, she was the faculty advisor to the SIU Moot Court program and the faculty coordinator of the National Health Law Moot Court Competition (initially in conjunction with Professor Gene Basanta). She had the pleasure of coaching many national moot court competition teams over the years.
Professor Anderson started her teaching career as an Abraham Freedman Teaching Fellow at Temple University in Philadelphia. Professor Anderson subsequently taught at Gonzaga University School of Law and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law before coming to SIU. While at SIU, Professor Anderson was honored with the Outstanding Scholar award in 2013 and the Outstanding Teacher award in 2015. She retired as a tenured full Professor of Law.
Throughout her career, Professor Anderson has been involved with several professional organizations primarily focused on disability law. She chaired the Illinois State Bar Association Disability Law Committee in 2012-13. She was also a member of the ISBA Diversity Leadership Council for several years. In 2015-16, she Chaired the American Association of Law Schools Section on Disability Law. She was honored by the Illinois Rehabilitation Association at both the Southern Chapter and state level with the Citizen Community Rehabilitation Services Award for her work bringing awareness to disability rights. She was also presented with the Belle Greve Memorial Award by the National Rehabilitation Association for her work.
Professor Anderson was born and raised in North Dakota, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology summa cum laude and a Juris Doctorate with distinction from the University of North Dakota. She also has a Master of Laws from Temple University. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Order of Coif, and Order of the Barristers. In law school, she was a Senior Editor of the North Dakota Law Review. After law school, she practiced with a private firm for several years in Minnesota, concentrating on employment discrimination, general employment law, insurance defense, and family law.