Alexandra Schimmer

Alexandra T. Schimmer is Vice President and General Counsel for Denison University and Secretary of the university's Board of Trustees, a role she has held since 2019 ^[1]. She advises university leadership across the range of legal matters facing a private liberal arts institution, with a practice focused on higher education law. Her areas of expertise include constitutional issues, labor and employment law, research compliance, criminal law, campus safety and internal investigations, Title IX, the Clery Act, antitrust, privacy law, student and faculty affairs, and health care issues ^[1].

Before joining Denison, Schimmer served as Deputy General Counsel for The Ohio State University, where she led the day-to-day provision of legal services for the university, its academic medical center, regional campuses, and global gateways in India, China, and Brazil ^[1]. Earlier, she served as Solicitor General for the State of Ohio, and prior to that as Chief Deputy Solicitor General, conducting the state's appellate litigation and briefing and arguing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, the federal courts of appeals, and the Ohio Supreme Court. In that role she also represented Ohio's public colleges and universities and advised public university presidents, boards, and other leaders on higher education issues ^[1].

Earlier in her career, Schimmer was a litigator and appellate lawyer at Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP in Columbus, where she represented Fortune 500 companies and nonprofits, including colleges and universities, and devoted significant time to civil and criminal pro bono work. Following law school, she clerked for federal judges in the Southern District of New York and on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ^[1]. She also served for nine years as Ohio Commissioner to the national Uniform Law Commission, working on criminal justice reform efforts including the Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act ^[1].

Schimmer holds an A.B. from Princeton University, an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Fulbright Fellow, and a J.D. from Yale Law School ^[1]. She has been an active member of NACUA since 2009 and serves on its Board of Directors. She is chair-elect of the association and Chair of the Committee on Program for the Annual Conference, and previously served on the board from 2020 to 2023 ^[2].

Recognition

• Board of Directors — National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA) (2025) ^[2]