Nicholas S. Zeppos

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Nicholas S. Zeppos is also a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School.

He joined the faculty of the Vanderbilt University Law School in 1987 after service as an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice. He served as associate dean for research and faculty development at the Law School from 1998 to 1999, and then assumed the position of associate provost of academic affairs of the University. In March 2001, he became Vanderbilt’s first vice chancellor for institutional planning and advancement.
Mr. Zeppos has written widely on legislation, administrative law, and professional responsibility; has won five teaching awards at the Law School; and is a nationally recognized scholar in legislation and government regulation. He served as chair of the Scholars Committee on the Federal Judiciary and as chair of the Rules Advisory Committee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Mr. Zeppos has also served as a consultant to government agencies, major corporations, and trade associations on complex litigation, policy design and implementation, administrative law, constitutional law, civil procedure, federal jurisdiction, and regulation of financial institutions.

He continues to teach Administrative Law, Legal Process, Regulation of Financial Institutions, Legislation and the Legislative Process, Civil Procedure, and Judicial Decision Making at Vanderbilt Law School. He is a member of the Association of American Law Schools, the American Law and Economic Association, and the Washington, D.C., American, and Tennessee Bar Associations. Additionally, he is a member of the Supreme Court Bar and of Phi Beta Kappa.

He and his wife, Lydia Howarth, are the parents of Nicholas and Ben.