Sharon B. Press

Education

B.A., The George Washington University School of Public and International Affairs
J.D., The George Washington University National Law Center

Biography

Professor Sharon Press, director of the Dispute Resolution Institute, joined the faculty of Mitchell Hamline School of Law in 2009. She teaches Mediation and Negotiation (in both online and in-person formats), and a Mediation Clinic.  In addition, Press directs the Israel Study Abroad Program: Conflict Resolution from Religious Traditions, coaches the Mediation Representation Team, and serves as the academic advisor to the students who are completing a Certificate in Conflict Resolution Theory and Practice.  Press currently serves as Co-President of Community Mediation Minnesota and is a board member of Community Mediation and Restorative Services (CMRS) and the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation. Press served as Chair of the Minnesota State Bar Association ADR Section Council and was a member of the Minnesota ADR Ethics Board. She mediates regularly in Conciliation, Housing and Harassment Courts and for the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.

Press is the recipient of numerous professional awards, including the Mary Parker Follett Award for Excellence and Innovation in Dispute Resolution presented by the Association for Conflict Resolution and CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution’s Special Award for Distinguished Contributions to the Field and Future of Dispute Resolution. She is a Minnesota Rule 114 qualified facilitative/hybrid neutral and a Florida Supreme Court certified county and family mediator and has made over 250 presentations on ADR topics at conference and continuing education events in the U.S. and abroad.

Prior to joint Mitchell Hamline, Press served as director of the Florida Dispute Resolution Center where she was responsible for the ADR programs for the Florida state court system.