Lane Powell is proud to announce that Professor Ryan Calo is the first recipient of the Lane Powell & D. Wayne Gittinger Professorship at University of Washington (UW). Calo is an assistant professor of law at the UW School of Law, an adjunct assistant professor at the UW Information School and a faculty co-director of the UW Tech Policy Lab.
The endowed professorship honors the legacy of D. Wayne Gittinger, who completed both his undergraduate and law degrees at the UW. Gittinger, who passed away in 2014, was recognized as one of the leading business attorneys in the Northwest, in addition to being a prominent civic and business leader — notably serving on the boards of Nordstrom Inc. and Pabst Brewing. His distinguished career at Lane Powell spanned over 50 years, and his influence is still widely felt at the Firm.
“Wayne Gittinger embodied a dedication to the clients’ best interests,” remarks Lane Powell’s president, Charles W. Riley Jr. “That dedication remains a pillar of the work we do.”
As the holder of the professorship, Professor Calo will share his expertise with Lane Powell, apprising the Firm of policy developments pertaining to the implementation of technology. In this regard, Professor Calo’s multi-disciplinary background will be invaluable to the Firm. Professor Calo has worked on issues related to artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality (AR) — technology that enables users to engage with interactive elements superimposed on the real world. In November, he provided testimony about AR technology before the full Judiciary Committee of the U.S. Senate.
The professorship affirms Lane Powell’s commitment to thought leadership and innovative thinking about the role of technology. Calo remarked, “The fact that I’m able to drop everything and go to D.C. to help the Senate think about augmented reality — that’s a function of the support from Lane Powell.”
In addition, Professor Calo recently keynoted Lane Powell’s Third Annual Startups Seminar, which focused on the merging of five “super technologies” — AI, cloud computing, the internet of things, big data and mobile computing.