Thread by @chris_j_walker

I am heartbroken to hear about the passing over the weekend of my good friend, mentor, and colleague in the field @UNLCollegeofLaw Professor Anna Shavers (@LawProfShavers): news.unl.edu/newsrooms/toda…
A quick 🧵 with some reflections on her life and its impact on mine:

I first got to know Anna well when I joined the governing council of the @ABAAdLaw Section in 2015, and she had just completed her one-year term as Section Chair. I had met Anna before that, and her passion for #adlaw and #immigrationlaw was infectious.

Not to mention her smile and laugh. I sometimes wondered whether that was just her extroverted, public presence, but as I got to know her better, I realized that passion and joy were part of the core of who she was -- she sought to uplift and inspire.

And she truly was an #adlaw geek. Before law school, she worked as a claims representative at the Social Security Administration and, after receiving a master's degree, at the National Labor Relations Board conducting labor investigations and elections.

Based on her experience at SSA and NLRB, she decided to go to law school, thinking she'd return to the federal government but instead ended up at Nebraska Law School as a law professor focused on administrative and immigration law.

Amazing Side Note: While an @UofMNLawSchool student, she established the university's first immigration clinic: lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/20…

She was a critical leader in the @ABAesq Section, serving on the council and as an officer for more than a half-dozen years as well as on various committees. She also was a leader in other ABA sections and in @TheAALS including as Immigration Section Chair in the late 1990s.

At the time of her passing, she was serving her first year as the @ABAesq Delegate to the @ABAesq House of Delegates, representing our Section's interests in that ABA legislative body.

Her impact on the fields of administrative law and immigration as well as on the legal profession was profound and indisputable. But for those of us who were fortunate to know her well, her personal impact on our lives was arguably more profound.

As I shared with my Legislation and Regulation class this afternoon, the signature Shavers move was her ability to personally connect. It was the out-of-blue email or phone call to congratulate me on a publication or on my participation at a conference or other event.

I know I'm not the only recipient of this signature Shavers move, as this was her reputation in the field to praise, encourage, and thank others for their contributions to the field and to her life. This is something I hope to emulate and carry on from her legacy.

The same is true of our one-on-one interactions. I loved how she would always ask first how I was doing personally -- how were my kids, my spouse, my law students, and me. And then she would ask what I was working on.

Anna, I will miss those emails, phone calls, and in person pick-me-ups. I will miss your impact on the field, on the ABA, and on my life. I hope your family, friends, students, and colleagues are able to celebrate a life so well lived and find peace and comfort at this time.

And I'll end with Anna's own words, from her final @ABAesq Chair's Message (from the Spring 2015 ARLN issue). This so nicely captures who Anna was as a person and leader -- and who and how she inspired others to be active participants in the profession: