As the 88 MSL graduates of the class of 2024 crossed the stage to accept their diplomas at the Chicago Theater on May 10, it was abundantly clear that this cohort had left their mark on the program. 

A group of changemakers and leaders, this year’s graduating class comprised students who improved the program and helped embed it even more deeply into the fabric of Pritzker School of Law

Dean Hari Osofsky emphasized the extraordinary nature of this year’s cohort in her remarks during the MSL’s graduation reception, a celebration attended by students and their families, loved ones, faculty, and staff.  Dean Osofsky called out significant contributions the class of 2024 has made to the Law School. 

“Whether in person or online, from the Chicago area or around the world, one unifying characteristic of all our MSL students is the engagement and enthusiasm that they bring to Northwestern Pritzker Law and the ways in which they’ve played an essential leadership role in our law school at this time of challenge,” Osofsky said. 

As an example, the Dean noted that for the first time in its 10-year history, the MSL had a seat on the Student Bar Association Executive Board, with Raj Patel being elected as SBA treasurer. While MSL students had served as representatives to the Student Bar Association in the past, having a seat at the executive board table elevated the voice of the MSL program within this important organization.   

Graduating MSLs were also instrumental in launching two new societies at Pritzker Law this past year: the Northwestern Society for Law and Medicine and the Northwestern Law and Data Society. In both groups, MSL students will workside-by-side with JDs and LLMs to advance cross-disciplinary understanding. The creation of these two societies by MSL students demonstrates the value they see in building bridges between law and STEM and between legal and STEM professionals. The initiative shown by these students foreshadows the role they will play in helping society address thorny issues at the intersection of law, business, and technology.   

Osofsky’s remarks helped to drive home the importance of cross-disciplinary cooperation, both within the law school and in the professional environments that come after MSL study: “Often the people who have a seat at the table in making the policy decisions truly don’t understand the science and technology well enough, and the people who are inventing the amazing things that are making our world better often don’t have a clear enough sense of how to navigate the regulatory environment,” she said. “This program, for 10 years, has been graduating people who can be the bridges that our society desperately needs.” 

During the 2023-2024 school year, MSL students branched out into many other areas of involvement. Students served as program representatives for a variety of organizations, including the Intellectual Property Law Society, Women’s Leadership Coalition, First Generation Law Students Association, International Law Society, and Sports Law Society. Others took the reins in planning a day-long program for 125 high school students from STEM schools across Chicago. Several MSLs showed off their entrepreneurial spirit by launching companies of their own – one group placing as semifinalists in VentureCat, Northwestern’s annual student startup competition. And several students took the initiative to begin the exploratory process for launching an MSL-led law journal.   

“They’ve already contributed so much in the time before they came, and during their time here at the law school, and we know they’re going to make an enormous difference when they go out into the next chapter of their careers,” Osofsky said. 

This year’s cohort has raised the profile of the MSL program and further defined what it means to be an interdisciplinary scholar, peer, and professional. Through their many contributions to the Law School, the larger Northwestern University community, and the city of Chicago, the 10th cohort of MSL graduates leaves a legacy of involvement and expanded opportunities for future law MSL students.   

To the MSL class of 2024: Thank you for making the program’s 10th Anniversary year one for the books, and for helping to shape the law school experience for the next 10 years of incoming students.