George Sharswood Fellowship

The Sharswood Fellowship was created in 2007 to encourage scholars committed to entering a career in legal academia. Each year the Penn Carey Law faculty awards two fellowships that each fund two years of research writing and teaching. The Sharswood Fellowship is distinguished by fellows full integration into the law school faculty and its emphasis on teaching classes that the fellow feels will help them prepare for the teaching they will do as an assistant professor. The Law School has an excellent record of placing fellows and Sharswood Fellows have gone on to tenure-track legal academic positions at law schools including those at Stanford U.C. Berkeley the University of Chicago New York University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Sharswood Fellows join a vibrant community of academic fellows from the Law Schools Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice; Center for Technology Innovation and Competition; and the Penn Program on Regulation. Sharswood Fellows also benefit from faculty mentorship and enjoy faculty access to Law School services and events. They hold academic standing comparable to that of visiting assistant professors.

Applications will be received starting August 18 2025 and will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting September 2.

Hire date is July 1 2026.

Writing & Research

The Sharswood Fellow will be expected to produce at least one legal academic work of publishable quality during each year of funding. The work is expected to be of a length akin to a standard law review article.

Teaching: Academic Year 1 (2026-2027)

Spring - Fellows teach a seminar based on the subject of their research.

Teaching: Academic Year 2 (2027-2028)

Fall - Fellows teach the same seminar that they taught the previous spring.
Spring - Fellows teach a course to be determined in consultation with the dean.

Job Preparation

Typically Fellows prepare for the academic teaching market during their first year and apply for academic jobs during their second year.

Sharswood Fellow applicants must have earned a law degree or PhD or equivalent in a related field and should not yet have held a full-time tenure track legal academic appointment. The Sharswood Fellowship provides excellent opportunities for predoctoral research for candidates who have completed a JD or for postdoctoral research. One of the Fellowships every two years is designated for University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School graduates.