Nancy Weiss
Adjunct Associate Professor
WCL Adjunct Faculty
Bio
Nancy E. Weiss is a Senior Policy Fellow in the Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property at American University’s Washington College of Law and an Adjunct Professor/Supervisor in WCL’s Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic. She has held significant leadership roles in the public and private sectors, specializing in information policy, cultural expression and engagement, and Federal legal practice. Nancy served as the first General Counsel of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Senior Advisor for IP and Innovation at the White House, and counsel (and on the Executive Committee) for the U.S. Arts and Artifacts Indemnity Program, which fosters cultural understanding by helping to defray the costs of significant museum exhibitions. Most recently, Nancy served as the Fifth Kaminstein Scholar in Residence at the United States Copyright Office, focusing on Indigenous cultural expression.
Nancy has been a key drafter and negotiator of several groundbreaking international agreements, including the first copyright treaty to mandate a stand-alone exception to help end the book famine for people with print disabilities; Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art to address outstanding issues from the Holocaust Era; UNESCO cultural conventions, and United Nations frameworks for Internet governance and digital access/inclusion. She has also helped craft domestic laws and strategies in these areas.
Earlier in her career, Nancy practiced law at Williams & Connolly and clerked for the Hon. William Schwarzer (N.D. California, Director of the Federal Judicial Center). Before attending law school at the University of Michigan, she led an academic support program at her alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania, and continues to mentor aspiring and established lawyers. Nancy helped establish the General Counsel Exchange (GCX) at the Partnership for Public Service and led the Small Agency Council/General Counsel Forum, both dedicated to strengthening government legal practice. She was appointed to the Senior Executive Service and also served on the Federal Innovation Council.
Nancy was recently recognized by the American Bar Association, Law360, and the Burton Foundation for her contributions to public service. As an elected member of the American Law Institute, through music (including as past-President of the Washington Savoyards), and through storytelling, Nancy strives to make the law more accessible. She is a member of the California, District of Columbia, and Supreme Court Bars, and served two terms as chair of the Arts, Entertainment, Media, and Sports Section of the D.C. Bar. Nancy serves on the Board of the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield and, as a Board member, has guided several performing arts organizations through major transitions.
