Meet Professor Sarah Fox
The Midwest provides an ideal setting for studying the interaction between the environment and communities. For Sarah Fox, Milwaukee is the perfect place to continue her career in legal academia.
“This area is fascinating from an environmental perspective, especially when you think about the water, energy, migration and other issues that will arise in the Great Lakes in the next few decades as the climate continues to change. The law of Wisconsin is different from Illinois, where I was teaching, so there is great opportunity for comparative work as well,” said Fox.
Fox is an associate professor coming to Marquette Law School from a faculty position at Northern Illinois University College of Law, where she received the inaugural NIU Law Board of Visitors Faculty Excellence Award. She also held a Visiting Associate Professor role at the University of Iowa Law School. At Marquette Law School, Fox teaches property, local government law, and courses in the real estate and environmental areas.
Throughout her career, Fox has focused on land use. Her interest in academia came from her time as a clinical teaching fellow in the environmental law clinic at Georgetown University Law Center, where she received her JD. “Once you start thinking about it, land use law is everywhere,” Fox said. “It shapes the way our cities look and is responsible for so many of the impacts that humans have on the environment. I love helping students see how the law connects to the world around them.”
A Kansas native, Sarah Fox is excited to join the Marquette community and sees Milwaukee as an ideal place to study local government—and to explore with her husband, a fellow lawyer, and their three children.
"My work focuses so much on the local level, and Milwaukee strikes me as the perfect size for someone who wants to study local government. It is big enough to have complex issues, but not so overwhelming that students cannot wrap their heads around it," said Fox.
When advising incoming students, Fox encourages them to stay open-minded and consider their unique personalities when making decisions.
“The most important thing is figuring out what kind of lawyer you want to be. If you want to be in a courtroom, great. If not, that is great too. There are all kinds of ways to be a lawyer. It is OK to change your mind along the way and pursue things that align with your personality and the kind of lawyer you want to become,” said Fox.