Two Toledo Law Faculty Members Recognized with Promotion
The University of Toledo Board of Trustees approved 53 faculty members for promotion and tenure at its April meeting.
“The dedication and expertise of our faculty are the true cornerstones of The University of Toledo’s mission,” said Dr. Mitchell S. McKinney, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “This year’s exceptional group of 53 newly tenured and promoted faculty members exemplifies the highest standards of higher education. Their unwavering commitment to innovative research, dynamic classroom teaching, and impactful clinical and community service elevates our entire institution and profoundly shapes the success of our students.”
Amongst those recognized with promotion to associate professor were two Toledo Law faculty, Deborah Machalow and Glenys Spence.
Deborah Machalow
Associate Professor of Law
Deborah Machalow teaches Civil Procedure: Pleading and Practice; Civil Procedure: Jurisdiction; and Insurance Law. Her scholarship focuses on reproductive rights/justice and democracy. In 2026, she presented her scholarship at the Eastern Sociological Society’s Annual Conference’s Mini Conference on Reproduction, Touro Law Center’s Symposium, Michigan State University College of Law’s Democracy and Public Law Works-in-Progress Conference, and the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics’ Health Law Professors Conference. During the 2025–2026 academic year, she also presented locally to the League of Women Voters of Toledo-Lucas County (with Professor Knouse).
Her most recent scholarship, "Undemocratic: Antiabortion Politicians’ Attacks on Direct Democracy" was published in the "Journal of Race, Gender & Ethnicity" in 2026.
Glenys Spence
Associate Professor of Law
Glenys Spence was published in the Indiana International & Comparative Law Review in the spring, "Cyber Letters of Marque: Addressing the Geopolitical Risks of Private Cyber Warfare—Lessons from History and International Law." She presented her paper, Governance in the Abyss: Incomplete Contracts and the Regulatory Crisis in Deep-Sea Mining, at the Washington & Lee Working Group on International Contracting and the Theory of the Firm Roundtable in May in Lexington, VA. She was honored with the Beth Eisler First-Year Teaching Award.