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University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law Professor Emeritus Karen Rothenberg and Adjunct Professor Paul Bekman ’71 have been selected as recipients of the Maryland Daily Record’s 2024 Icon Award. The honor recognizes people over age 60 for their notable success and demonstration of strong leadership both within and outside of their chosen field. The award will be presented at an event on Dec. 9 at the Center Club in Baltimore.
Karen Rothenberg is the Marjorie Cook Professor Emeritus of Law and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics. She served as dean of Maryland Carey Law from 1999 to 2009. A leading national expert on legal issues in health care, she was the founding director of the law school’s top-ranked Law & Health Care Program, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. In her decade as the first woman dean at Maryland Carey Law, Rothenberg oversaw the launch of several high-impact academic programs and centers and secured final funding for Maryland Carey Law’s modern building. Presiding over the building’s dedication, Rothenberg welcomed the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg as keynote speaker.
Following her deanship, Rothenberg served as senior advisor to the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health (NHGRI/NIH). She was a visiting scholar in the Department of Bioethics at NIH’s Clinical Center and a scholar-in-residence at Columbia Law School, as well as a senior sabbatical fellow at Columbia’s Center for the Study of Law and Culture.
During sabbaticals from the law school, she worked at the NIH in the Office of Research on Women’s Health and the National Institute for Child Health & Human Development (NICHD). She served on the NICHD Institutional Review Board and was a member of the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee.
A prolific scholar, Rothenberg has authored more than 50 articles and multiple book chapters and is co-author of The Drama of DNA: Narrative Genomics, which explores the use of theatre as an innovative tool to identify and encourage discussion of the unique ethical, legal, and social issues posed by emerging technologies in health care.
Rothenberg is co-editor of the book, Women and Prenatal Testing: Facing the Challenges of Genetic Technology and co-author of five articles in the journal Science, exploring genetic discrimination, privacy, and the use of genetic information in the courtroom. In addition to her work in genetics policy, she has published on topics including the role of gender in health care, AIDS, research ethics, the right to forego treatment, emergency care, and new reproductive technologies.
Rothenberg has testified before federal and state legislatures on a wide range of issues, including the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. She served on the Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission when it was founded. She is a past president of the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics and former co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics.
Paul Bekman is managing member at Bekman, Marder, Hopper, Malarkey & Perlin, LLC, a Baltimore law firm representing individuals and families who have suffered from catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death. He teaches the course Medical Malpractice: Claims, Defenses, and Litigation at Maryland Carey Law.
Bekman has lectured, taught and written extensively in the areas of trial advocacy, personal injury and wrongful death damages, and medical negligence. He has served as president of the Bar Association of Baltimore City, president of the Maryland State Bar Association, and president of the Maryland Bar Foundation.
Bekman is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and served as president of the Maryland Chapter from 1997 to 2012. He is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers and a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers, whose membership is limited to the top one percent of trial lawyers in each state.
In the 2011, Bekman was the recipient of the Maryland Carey Law Distinguished Graduate Award and was honored by the Bar Association of Baltimore City as one of 11 Living Legal Legends.