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Elected Member

Professor
Sean
B.
Seymore

Location
Nashville, TN, USA
Affiliation
Vanderbilt University Law School
Education
University of Tennessee
University of Notre Dame, Ph.D. (Chemistry)
Notre Dame Law School

Sean B. Seymore is the Centennial Professor of Law and Professor of Chemistry at Vanderbilt University.  His research focuses on how patent law should evolve in response to scientific advances and how the intersection of law and science should influence the formulation of public policy. He rejoined Vanderbilt Law School in 2022 where he previously taught from 2010-2021.  He was the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School from 2021-2022.  Seymore also taught at Washington & Lee University School of Law, where he was an assistant professor of law from 2008-2010 and earned the designations of Alumni Faculty Fellow and Huss Faculty Fellow for his scholarship and teaching. He was a visiting assistant professor at Northwestern University School of Law in 2007-08. Before law school, Seymore held academic appointments in chemistry at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and Rowan University and was a visiting scientist at Indiana University-Bloomington. After earning his law degree, he practiced patent law with Foley Hoag in Boston. As an active member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), he served on the executive committee for the Division of Chemistry and the Law from 2009-2012, on the Committee on Patents and Related Matters from 2006-07 and on the Younger Chemists Committee from 2002-06. In spring 2012, Seymore was appointed to the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Visiting Associate Professor.

Seymore earned his B.S. in chemistry at the University of Tennessee as a Tennessee Scholar, an M.S.Chem. (with thesis) from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame with an Arthur J. Schmitt Presidential Fellowship, and a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School with an Allen Endowment Fellowship. 

Member News

Traynor on Liberty, Law, and Democracy

In his essay "Liberty, Law, and Democracy: Are There Grounds for Realistic Optimism?" Michael Traynor, former President of The American Law Institute, reflects on the challenges facing American democracy amid political polarization and institutional strain. He examines threats to the balance between liberty and law, citing dysfunction across the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, while drawing on historical context and recent scholarship to frame these concerns.

Despite his sober assessment, Traynor maintains a guarded optimism rooted in America’s resilience, civic traditions, and individual potential to effect change. He highlights positive actions within the legal community, nonprofit organizations, and among engaged citizens, while outlining five practical steps Americans can take to strengthen democracy: improving civic education, demanding accountability, fostering open debate, participating in elections and local governance, and resisting simplistic solutions.

Traynor concludes that democracy is “stubborn work,” incremental, imperfect, and ongoing, but expresses confidence that Americans have the resolve to preserve it.

Read the full article The New Nationalist

Michael Traynor is senior counsel at Cobalt LLP in Berkeley California. He served as ALI President from 2000 to 2008, and as Chair of the Council from 2008 to 2011. He is also a recipient of ALI's Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Traynor is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.   He received the John P. Frank Outstanding Lawyer Award from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is an honorary life trustee of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and of Earthjustice and a past President (1973) of the Bar Association of San Francisco.