UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Dan Cahoy, professor of business law in the Penn State Smeal College of Business, has assumed the role of president of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business (ALSB).

Cahoy is the first Penn State office holder since Sheldon C. Tanner was elected president of ALSB in 1937, 78 years ago.

The ALSB, the primary national academic organization for legal studies, is an association of teachers and scholars of business law, legal environment and law-related courses outside of professional law schools. It’s nearly 1,000 members teach primarily in schools of business in colleges and universities, at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, in all 50 states and a host of foreign countries.

The academy provides a forum for the exchange of ideas, and encourages support and cooperation among those who teach and conduct research in the field of legal studies. The academy publishes two top-tier journals: the American Business Law Journal and the Journal of Legal Studies Education.

Cahoy joined the Smeal faculty in 2001. He is a patent attorney, licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and is admitted to the New York State Bar and several federal courts, including the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Prior to joining the University, Cahoy practiced in New York City at the large intellectual property-oriented law firm of Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto, where he specialized in complex patent litigation.

Cahoy is currently pursuing a number of projects related to the impact of property and intellectual property rights on natural gas extraction and climate change technologies. He is also investigating aspects of university patent ownership, including license restrictions and the impact on stakeholders.