In the past few decades, Thomson Reuters has built a mutually beneficial and fruitful partnership with the University of Minnesota, both strategically and tactically. The University of Minnesota Law School is one of the best law schools in the nation and one of Thomson Reuters key customers of print and online Legal products. The Law School trains and nurtures the next generation of legal talent, our future customers, and some of our future employees.

Chang Wang, chief research and academic officer at Thomson Reuters, teaches comparative law courses at the U of M Law School and William Mitchell College of Law each spring. Five of Wang’s former students at the law schools have joined Thomson Reuters.

“The final exam of my courses is a moot court competition: students from my two classes compete by conducting legal research in WestlawNext, writing legal briefs, and presenting an oral argument to an imaginary Chinese Constitutional Court, which our senior executives – Rick King, chief operating officer, Technology; Tom Leighton, vice president, Legal Editorial, and others – preside and judge,” said Wang. “The competition has attracted considerable media coverage – Minnesota Lawyer, China Insight, Perspective, and William Mitchell College of Law News all published featured articles.”

Justice Paul Anderson, Rick King, Dean Joan Howland, Chang Wang, and other justices judging the China Law Moot Court competition between the U of M Law School and William Mitchell College of Law at the Minnesota Supreme Court, April 2013.

Justice Paul Anderson, Rick King, Dean Joan Howland, Chang Wang, and other justices judging the China Law Moot Court competition between the U of M Law School and William Mitchell College of Law at the Minnesota Supreme Court, April 2013.

Thomson Reuters has also worked with the Law School on Westlaw training and Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs on a regular basis. Associate Dean Joan Howland and several faculty members are frequent speakers at Thomson Reuters events. The Law School is also very supportive of Thomson Reuters’ initiatives in China and other global markets. Wang said: “Dean Howland and I have travelled to China and Switzerland together a few times, meeting our academic and government customers, attending conferences, and lecturing on the rule of law. We call Dean Howland our ‘goodwill ambassador of American law.’”

Below are some additional examples of the rich partnerships Thomson Reuters has cultivated with the University of Minnesota over the years:

  • China Center: Thomson Reuters relationship with the University of Minnesota China Center goes back to 2005 when Rick King, then CTO of Thomson Legal and Regulatory, joined Governor Tim Pawlenty’s first mission to China. Since then, the China Center and Thomson Reuters have been co-hosting a number of high-profile Chinese delegations, including National Aviation Corporation, University and College Presidents Group, and the State Food and Drug Administration. In addition, King was on the China Center Advisory Board for many years. And the China Center and SFDA delegation visited Thomson Reuters in 2007.
  • Carlson School of Management: Many Thomson Reuters employees graduated from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota with an EMBA degree. King is a council member of Carlson Global Institute, and Peter Warwick, chief people officer at Thomson Reuters, is on the Carlson School Board of Overseers. Carlson Global Institute runs an influential Global Executive MBA program and every year they send their students, most of them senior executives from large-mid size companies in Europe, to visit Eagan. They were given a tour and presented with a panel discussion, moderated by King, to share our perspective on global operations and cross-border communications. In the past, Mick Atton, chief architect at Thomson Reuters, was the Thomson Reuters representative to the Carlson School Information & Decision Sciences Department’s Executive Advisory Board on Curriculum
  • Humphrey School of Public Policy: Rick King and former Vice President Walter Mondale serve on the Humphrey School Dean’s Advisory Council. In addition, both the Humphrey School and Thomson Reuters are key sponsors of the Nobel Peace Prize Forum, an annual event that inspires students and other citizens to become active participants in peacemaking efforts around the world. And Thomson Reuters recently co-hosted Madeleine Albright’s lecture with the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
  • Computer Science and Engineering (CS&E): Thomson Reuters has a relationship with the U of M through our partnership with Maverick Software Consulting. Maverick has an office near campus and employs a number of CS&E students to learn about Thomson Reuters software engineering projects. They gain experience with the company, products, and technology and serve as a talent pipeline to potentially join Thomson Reuters as new hires after they’ve graduated. Additionally, they can often enjoy a summer internship with us. Anna Grecco, vice president, Technology, leads this relationship. In addition, the University has frequently asked Thomson Reuters to provide speakers to industry consortia such as the MISRC (Management Information Systems Research Center) and the digital technology center (although this one is not as recent). Atton has spoken to MISCR on cloud technologies and Bill Keenan, senior director, Technology, has spoken on machine learning/big data most recently. Thomson Reuters has also provided speakers/tables for the CS&E open house and presented sessions during career week.
  • The China Center and SFDA delegation visited Thomson Reuters in 2007.

    The China Center and SFDA delegation visited Thomson Reuters in 2007.

  • Industry Affiliates Council: Mark Kalthoff, director, Technology – Operational Systems, is Thomson Reuters representative on the Industry Affiliates Council at the University. IAC started in 2013 and also has representatives from Microsoft, Unisys, Accenture, Ameriprise, Best Buy, Symantec and Dell Compellent. The council has been an effective way for the computer science and engineering department to get input on degree programs, hiring qualifications, internship needs and continuing education topics, to name a few. The council members are able to get more access to students through tech talks, research presentations, design\code competitions and open house events.
  • Honors Program: The University of Minnesota recruits the best and the brightest. The University’s Honors Program assists high-achieving students in making the most of their undergraduate education, and Chang Wang teaches two courses to those students each year, one on American law, and one on China.
  • Department of Art: Thomson Reuters is dedicated to supporting the community in promoting arts, culture, and education; and to encouraging employees and community members to be educated global citizens. We sponsor art exhibitions at the Department of Art and support various artistic events in the community.
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