Susan Schneider

Susan Schneider is the William H. Enfield Professor of Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law and serves as Director of the LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law, the nation’s only advanced degree of its kind. Over more than twenty years she has built a national reputation for expertise in agricultural, food, and sustainability law.

Education

• B.A., College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, Minnesota (Phi Beta Kappa, Pi Gamma Mu)
• J.D., cum laude, University of Minnesota School of Law
• LL.M. in Agricultural Law, University of Arkansas School of Law

Research & Scholarship

Schneider’s scholarship integrates agricultural law with food law and sustainability, emphasizing the legal architecture needed for resilient food systems. She explores how climate change threatens food security and what regulatory reforms can mitigate disruptions. Her work also critically examines the industrial model of agriculture and advocates for policy that reconnects consumers with producers.

Her publications span bankruptcy solutions for family farms, antibiotic regulation in livestock production, local food policy design, and systemic food-safety reforms. The third edition of her textbook Food, Farming & Sustainability: Readings in Agricultural Law (2025) anchors her curricular innovations.

Awards & Honors

• Dean’s Award for Faculty Service (2023)
• Agricultural Law Steward Award, Drake University Agricultural Law Center (2013)
• Professional Scholarship Award, American Agricultural Law Association (2011)
• Distinguished Service Award, American Agricultural Law Association (2010)

Professional Leadership & Outreach

Schneider is a founding trustee and past co-president of the Academy of Food Law & Policy, and a past president of the American Agricultural Law Association. She regularly delivers plenary “Food Law Updates” at the AALA annual symposium and has keynoted conferences from Yale to Southern Illinois University on climate change and food security. She co-sponsored and led multiple national Food Law Student Leadership Summits with Harvard’s Food Law & Policy Clinic, cultivating the next generation of advocates. Grant and contract details are not publicly enumerated, but her sustained curricular development and conference leadership imply institutional and external support.

Laboratory & Teams

While no formal lab is listed, Schneider directs the LL.M. Program in Agricultural & Food Law, mentoring graduate students and collaborating with a national network of scholars via the Academy of Food Law & Policy and the American Agricultural Law Association.