Pre-Law Advisor: Mr. William E. Thro

William E. Thro, University Counsel and Assistant Professor of Government, is an accomplished appellate advocate and constitutional scholar.

As State Solicitor General of Virginia from 2004 to 2008, he was responsible for the Virginia State Government’s U.S. Supreme Court litigation (except capital cases) as well as lower court appeals involving the constitutionality of statutes or politically sensitive issues. He argued two cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and thirty-two cases in the lower appellate courts. He was on brief for three cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and thirty-eight cases in the lower appellate courts. A recipient of a National Association of Attorneys General Best Brief Award, he has co-authored eleven U.S. Supreme Court amicus briefs on the merits and more than fifty briefs at the petition stage.

His scholarship focuses on constitutional law in education contexts in both the United States and South Africa. In addition to co-editing four books, he has authored or co-authored three monographs, ten book chapters, and more than forty articles in scholarly journals. He currently serves on several editorial boards and regularly speaks on constitutional and educational law topics throughout the United States and South Africa. He is a Fellow of The National Association of College and University Attorneys - the organization’s highest honor for legal scholarship and contributions to higher education law.

His J.D. is from the University of Virginia where he was a published member of the Virginia Law Review and research assistant to constitutional law professor A.E. Dick Howard. He received his B.A. Summa Cum Laude from Hanover College where he was both a Harry S. Truman Scholar and U.S. Senate Youth Scholar. He earned his M.A. with Honours from the University of Melbourne, Australia while studying as a Rotary Foundation International Ambassadorial Scholar.