Professor Kathleen Hoke has been named University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB), Public Servant of the Year. She will be honored at a ceremony on October 17 during UMB Founders Week. Hoke is a leading expert on legal issues surrounding public health, dedicated to sharing her vast expertise with students, colleagues, legislators, and health departments.
“Professor Hoke is the go-to expert for public health law support for Maryland delegates and senators.” … “She exemplifies the best of UMB.” … “Kathi is a crown jewel in our public health community.” … “She is a dedicated expert that we all trust and respect deeply.”
This is just a small sampling of praise that law school colleagues, public health officials, and Maryland legislators heaped upon University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law Professor Kathleen Hoke in support of her nomination for the award.
Professor Leigh Goodmark, associate dean for research and faculty development, is one of the supporters who raved about Hoke’s work and impact.
“Professor Hoke has dedicated her professional life to public service,” Goodmark said. “She brings that passion to her students, giving them real-world opportunities to experience both the challenges and the satisfaction of that work. She is a valued colleague, whose ready laugh, commitment to students, and deep knowledge of Maryland’s legislative process enrich our clinical program.”
Hoke developed and teaches the Public Health Law Clinic, engaging law school students in the work of the Network for Public Health Law-Eastern Region and the Legal Resource Center for Public Health Policy (LRC). She also teaches Public Health and the Law, introducing students to the legal framework within which the public health system operates. The Network for Public Health Law provides technical legal assistance to national, state, and local public health professionals and their attorneys, legislators, and advocates who are working to develop sound public policy in this area.
Under Hoke’s direction, the Eastern Region has focused on maternal and reproductive health, cannabis regulation, environmental health, food security, housing stability, and injury prevention. She has conducted research and prepared materials related to regulating the donation of food, expanding access to reproductive health care, and enhancing tenants’ ability to secure safe and affordable housing.
Hoke clearly is a stalwart in the public health law ecosystem of Maryland, but she said she stumbled into the field as an academic and practitioner.
“As a special assistant to the attorney general of Maryland, I worked on diverse public health issues, like tobacco regulation, gun control, and prevention of child predation,” said Hoke, a 1992 Maryland Carey Law graduate who finished first in her class of 192 students and joined the school’s faculty in 2002. “After I joined Maryland Carey Law to manage the then-Legal Resource Center for Tobacco Regulation [now LRC], I realized that public health law is a perfect field for me because it incorporates many areas of practice — from tort law to constitutional law, administrative law to environmental law and more; calls on a variety of skills such as litigation, policy advocacy, and community engagement; and has a tremendous impact on individuals and communities.
“That I get to work with dedicated state and local public health professionals and researchers and motivate young attorneys to enter the field are the icing and sprinkles on the cake. There is truly never a dull moment when practicing public health law.”
Legislative Support
More recently, Hoke provided expertise to advocates and legislators to support passage of the Tobacco Retail Modernization Act of 2024, which places additional restrictions on tobacco retailers and enhances penalties to those who sell tobacco products to underage individuals. She also has become a leading expert on the state of reproductive health after the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. She has helped health departments and others understand the complex state of the law in their states, understand their authority, and forecast what might be on the horizon.
In 2023, she worked to secure passage of Maryland’s Child Victims Act to allow survivors to bring lawsuits against organizations that harbored abusers regardless of when the abuse occurred. She filed an amicus brief on behalf of survivors and legislators in the Supreme Court of Maryland, arguing in favor of the constitutionality of the act. She was so instrumental in the act’s passage that Del. C.T. Wilson, JD, the bill’s sponsor, insisted she be at the table for its signing.
“Becoming an expert on a niche issue in Maryland law allowed me to give the General Assembly a sound legal basis on which to pass the Child Victims Act,” Hoke said. “The survivors are incredibly courageous, generous, and dedicated advocates, simply asking for the opportunity to pursue litigation to help them shed public light on organizations that put their reputations and finances above the safety and well-being of children.”
Maryland State Sen. Benjamin F. Kramer supported Hoke’s nomination for the UMB award, lauding her contributions to the state.
“Professor Hoke’s efforts to keep tobacco products out of the hands of minors have been exemplary,” he said. “She has played a pivotal role in crafting and advocating for legislation that restricts access to these harmful products. Her testimony before legislative bodies has been instrumental in conveying the urgency and importance of these measures, leading to the successful passage of laws that safeguard the well-being of young people.
“Her ability to translate complex legal and scientific information into clear, actionable policy recommendations has been a tremendous asset to state legislators.”
‘Public Service Is Simply What We Do’
The Public Servant of the Year Award adds to Hoke’s list of accolades. In 2016, she received the Jennifer Robbins Award for the Practice of Public Health Law from the American Public Health Association. In 2020, she was named UMB’s Core Values Award winner for excellence in teaching.
“Through her leadership and tireless work in the community, Professor Hoke has served UMB’s mission to improve the human condition in countless ways while also promoting health equity,” said Vice Dean Deborah Thompson Eisenberg, professor and faculty director, Center for Dispute Resolution at Maryland Carey Law. “She is an exceptional professor and mentor who models UMB’s core values in her work and her interactions with staff, students, and faculty.”
Hoke said she was “a bit surprised and overwhelmed” to learn she had been named Public Servant of the Year, adding that it validates her efforts to fulfill her parents’ admonition “to be a positive force in the world.”
“I have fond and funny memories of the times my dad served as the president of our community association, shoveling snow and raking leaves for seniors in the community even though that was not part of the job,” she said. “Even today, my 80-year-old mother volunteers at a homeless shelter. Public service is simply what we do. I inherited that gift and am grateful to my parents for their remarkable role modeling and incessant guidance and support.
“At UMB, we work on a campus where public service and public servants are abundant. I am incredibly honored to be nominated and selected. Winning the award means that I have to keep up the good work!”