Lori Shaw Robol is an adjunct professor of law and professor emeritus at the University of Dayton School of Law.
Robol previously served as a professor of lawyering skills and associate dean for academic affairs where she determined the curriculum and class schedule, counseled students regarding classes, and oversaw the academic functions and general administration of the School of Law. She first became a member of the Legal Profession faculty at the School of Law in 1988. Robol retired as a full-time faculty member in May 2025.
In 2012, Robol was named the Title IX Coordinator for the University of Dayton, and was responsible for coordinating the University’s compliance that year. Her responsibilities included overseeing all Title IX complaints and identifying and addressing any patterns or systemic problems that arise during the review of such complaints.
She served as dean of students from 2003- 2013 where she worked with and counseled students concerning personal and academic issues. She developed and enforced student policies; served as an advocate for student needs and represented the student body on law school and university committees; and provided leadership for various student programs, organizations and events. She was also on the management team for Dayton Law and acted as a liaison between students, faculty and members of the administration.
Robol has acted as the faculty coordinator for the Honorable James J. Gilvary Symposium on Law, Religion and Social Justice. She authored a bimonthly column on legal ethics in the American Bar Association’s Student Lawyer and previously co-wrote a regular column for the Columbus Bar Journal. She is a recipient of the TWEN Award for Innovation in Teaching from West Group and in 2006 received her second national award from the American Society of Business Publication editors.
Despite her many roles in and outside the School of Law, Robol said her favorite job is still teaching and working with her students. “Teaching’s not just standing in front of a large classroom,” she says. “I enjoy the one-on-one contact. Seeing my students grow and teaching them something they’ll use for the rest of their lives is a joy.”
Robol says a career in law appealed to both sides of her brain. “I love science and math, and I also like English, history, and communicating with people,” she says. “In law, I can express both sides of my personality.” While a law student, she clerked for the Honorable Judson Shattuck, Greene County Domestic Relations Court. After graduating summa cum laude from Dayton Law, where she was the casenote editor for the Law Review, Dean Robol served as a law clerk for the Honorable Walter H. Rice, U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Ohio, Western Division.
Having received both of her degrees from the University of Dayton, Robol ’83, ’87 found the decision to return to campus to teach an easy one. “I appreciate the sense of community,” she says. “In my experience the UD family is not just a motto. It’s a real thing.” Besides, she notes, “How many employers have their own basketball team?"