University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law Curators’ Professor Nancy Levit, J.D., is the 2025 Thomas Jefferson Award recipient. The award, given by the University of Missouri System, honors a member of the University of Missouri community who "through personal influence and performance of duty in teaching, writing and scholarship, character and influence, devotion and loyalty to the University best exemplifies the principles and ideals of Thomas Jefferson."
“The Thomas Jefferson Award is so meaningful because it represents commitment to the ideals of reason, free expression and the dissemination of knowledge,” Levit said. “The real honor goes to my wonderful colleagues of 36 years who have made UMKC such an exciting intellectual home.”
Levit is the second person in her family to receive the Thomas Jefferson Award. Her father, Marty Levit, received the award in 1984 during his time as a philosophy and education professor at UMKC. Marty was drawn to UMKC in part for its emphasis on interdisciplinary education, a sentiment that was passed on to Nancy. Marty and Nancy Levit also share a love for teaching and building relationships with their students and colleagues.
“The last line of my father’s obituary was appreciation for the thousands of students who enriched his life, and that’s a sentiment I feel every day,” Levit said. “The students are the best part of the job. Watching them find their niche and the things that excite them is so energizing.”
Levit joined the UMKC School of Law as a faculty member in 1988, the same year that her father retired. Her areas of specialty are torts, employment law and jurisprudence. In addition to the law courses she teaches, Levit is the long-time faculty advisor to the UMKC Law Review. She has authored or co-authored 11 books, more than 50 law review articles and more than 10 book chapters. She has earned numerous recognitions, including the Missouri Lawyers Media Women’s Justice Legal Scholar Award (2011), UMKC School of Law Professor of the Year Award six times, university-wide Elmer P. Pierson Teaching Award three times, UMKC School of Law Tierra M. Farrow Teaching Award (2010), university-wide Chancellor’s Award for Teaching (2011), Missouri Governor’s Teaching Award (2004, 2012), Daniel Brenner Publishing Award three times and the university-wide N.T. Veatch Award for Distinguished Research (2000).
“I can think of few more deserving of receiving the Thomas Jefferson Award than Professor Levit,” said Lumen Mulligan, dean of the UMKC School of Law. “She is a leading voice today on fairness in the workplace. She has enriched the lives of generations of UMKC law students as a gifted teacher, and her service to the university and the profession have no equal. That she now joins her father as a recipient of this award is, quite simply, moving.”
Levit’s relationship with the university began through her father, but it has been sustained in large part due to the strong faculty and student relationships that are prominent within the law school.
“One of the hallmarks of the UMKC School of Law is that it is a truly collegial and happy place,” Levit said. “When students first arrive, we tell them to look around because these people will become their best friends and colleagues for years to come. My fellow faculty are terrific at having meaningful conversations with students about their interests and goals and then helping them make connections in the community. Something that UMKC law students learn is to be other-directed, to give back. Alumni come and give back. We have a whole city of lawyers willing to share their expertise with our students.”
One of those alumni is Judge Stephen R. Bough (J.D. ‘97), U. S. District Court, Western District of Missouri. Bough has organized several symposia for the UMKC Law Review on innovative criminal sentences, multidistrict litigation and Missouri specialty courts and regularly provides his expertise to students.
“Professor Levit taught my first-year torts class, and for 30 years she has continued to teach me about the law, humanity and how to be a better person,” Bough said. “She is always available to give great advice and refers the best law clerks. Nancy could teach at any law school in the country; we are blessed that she has chosen UMKC Law School.”