Leadership Honors Program
Preparing Tomorrow's Leaders Today
Watch this video to see how the University of Dayton School of Law's Leadership Honors Program is training the leaders of tomorrow.
Preparing Tomorrow's Leaders Today
Watch this video to see how the University of Dayton School of Law's Leadership Honors Program is training the leaders of tomorrow.
Leading The Way
Through our Leadership Honors Program you can attend the School of Law with a Full Tuition Scholarship. The program is designed for highly-motivated students who want to be part of the next generation of lawyer-leaders. You will have an opportunity to learn from some of the top professionals in their field while creating your own law school leadership legacy.
Enhancing Your Skills
Graduates of the Leadership Honors Program earn a Leadership Honors Program certificate in addition to the Juris Doctorate. Students in the Program undertake the full J.D. curriculum with other members of their graduating class and participate in a specially-designed Graduated Leadership Sequence.
- In the first year, you engage with national and international experts in law, governance and business in the Honors Roundtable Series, chaired by former Ohio Governor Bob Taft.
- In the second year, you participate in a leadership seminar.
- In the next-to-last semester, you create your Leadership Legacy by working together on a project to help transform a community institution. Through their Legacy Projects students have worked on issues around reentry, veterans discharge, pardons, public defenders, evictions, immigration, domestic violence and constitutional rights.
Getting Nominated
For Incoming First-Year Students
Incoming students must be nominated — and cannot apply directly — to participate in the Leadership Honors Program. Qualifications for consideration for acceptance into the LHP are a minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.6, a minimum score of 157 on the Law School Admissions Test (or equivalent GRE or JD-Next score) and demonstrated leadership potential. These qualifications do not guarantee acceptance into the program due to limited spots available in each class.
Designated Nominators are:
- Designated Alumni Nominators drawn from our distinguished School of Law alumni;
- Representatives from undergraduate institutions selected to be Designated Nominator Schools, and;
- Dean-designated Nominators.
Interested students who do not have a Designated Nominator should contact the University of Dayton School of Law's Office of Admissions at lawinfo@udayton.edu or 937-229-3555.
Students who are nominated for the Leadership Honors Program must also apply for admission to the School of Law. Please note that a prospective applicant may gain admission into the School of Law without being accepted into the Leadership Honors Program.
Please nominate students by using the form below.
Submit Your Nomination
Please provide the following information to nominate your candidate.
Current Dayton Law Student Nominations
If you are a Dayton Law student, you may apply to join the Leadership Honors Program in your second year. To be considered, you must be in the top 15% of the class after Spring 2025 grades are submitted. Completed applications are due June 15, 2025.
To apply to the Leadership Honors Program, current Dayton Law students must provide:
- Dayton Law Faculty Letter of Recommendation
- Nomination from an individual outside of the School of Law
- Personal Leadership Statement
All documents should be submitted online using the above links. For questions about the application process, please contact Professor Ericka Curran, Leadership Honors Program Director, at ecurran1@udayton.edu.
Taking Classes
2½-year J.D. program - Fall starters
3-YEAR J.D. PROGRAM - FALL STARTERS
S = Semester
S1 - Fall S2 - Spring |
Honors Roundtable Series |
S3 - Fall | Leadership for Lawyers Seminars |
S4 - Spring | Leadership for Lawyers Seminars Leadership Legacy Project (2½-year only) |
S5 - Fall | Leadership Legacy Project (3-year only) |
Professor Ericka Curran
Director, Leadership Honors Program
ecurran1@udayton.edu