Leadership
(From left to right: Larry Gibson, Renée Hutchins Laurent, Taunya Lovell Banks, and Michael Pinard on the occasion of the fall 2023 launch of the Gibson-Banks Center on Race and the Law)
Renée Hutchins Laurent, the Dean of Maryland Carey Law, is a leading expert in the United States on the Fourth Amendment. Her scholarship has focused on various ways in which race intersects with the Fourth Amendment, including racial profiling and stop-and-frisk.
Michael Pinard, the Francis & Harriet Iglehart Professor of Law, is a national leader on issues related to race and the criminal legal system. He is the intellectual and visionary lead behind the law school’s efforts to create the Gibson-Banks Center.
Larry Gibson, the Morton & Sophia Macht Professor of Law, is a legal historian who has written one of the definitive biographies of Thurgood Marshall and will soon release a second book about Justice Marshall. He teaches seminars on Thurgood Marshall and race and the law. He has curated several exhibits on the history of Black lawyers in Maryland. In 1974, Gibson became the first Black man to become a tenured professor at Maryland Carey Law. He has indeed demonstrated strong leadership both within and outside of the law school.
Taunya Lovell Banks, Jacob A. France Professor of Equality Jurisprudence, taught her final class at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in fall 2021. The legendary critical race theory scholar and first tenured Black woman on the law school faculty retired after an illustrious career in which she trained her sharp scholarship on exposing systemic sexism and racism and inspired generations of students and colleagues to dedicate their legal careers to the fight for social justice.
Monique L. Dixon, Executive Director, Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law, is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of and strategic planning for the Gibson-Banks Center. She joined the Center after serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
Teresa Christian, Paralegal, Gibson-Banks Center for Race and the Law, provides paralegal services and programmatic support to the Center.
Brandon Miller, Erek L. Barron Fellow, serves as a student fellow at the Gibson-Banks Center where he performs policy and legal research, advocacy, and education and engagement activities. Miller is a third-year law student at Maryland Carey Law School and a May 2025 Juris Doctor candidate.
Erika Lewis serves as a student fellow at the Gibson-Banks Center where she performs policy and legal research, advocacy, and education and engagement activities. Lewis is a second-year law student at Maryland Carey Law School, a member of the Maryland Law Review, and a May 2026 Juris Doctor candidate.
Rashad Hawkins serves as a community fellow at the Gibson-Banks Center where he coordinates the Youth Justice Project. Hawkins conducts community outreach to young adults who have had contact with the youth or adult criminal legal system to build awareness, interest, and participation in the project. Hawkins is a community organizer and founder of BMore Awesome Inc.