Professor Sharon Press, director of the Dispute Resolution Institute, joined Hamline University School of Law in 2009. She teaches Practice, Problem-Solving and Professional Responsibility (first year required class), Mediation, Negotiation, and Advanced International Business Negotiation. In addition, Press directs the Jerusalem Study Abroad Program: Conflict Resolution from Religious Traditions, coaches the Mediation Representation Teams, and serves as the academic advisor to the students who are completing a Certificate in Advocacy and Problem-Solving. Press currently serves on the Minnesota State Bar Association ADR Section Council and is a board member for Community Mediation and Restorative Services (CMRS) and the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation. She also mediates regularly for the Dispute Resolution Center at Ramsey County Conciliation Court.

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 200 presentations on ADR topics at conference and continuing education events in the U.S. and abroad.

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