Law Dean <a href="/Academics/Faculty/ProfilesDe/AmmonsLinda.aspx">Linda L. Ammons</a> today congratulated Associate Professor <a href="/Academics/Faculty/ProfilesHbg/HusseyMichaelJ.aspx">Michael J. Hussey</a> on being named to the Central Penn Business Journal’s prestigious Forty Under 40 list of the central Pennsylvania region’s most accomplished young leaders.<br><br>Hussey joined Widener Law Commonwealth campus alumnae Rhonda Weaver and Amanda Snoke Dubbs on the list.<br><br>The program, now in its 16th year, recognizes people for their commitment to business growth, professional excellence and their communities. Hussey, Weaver and Snoke Dubbs, will be honored Oct. 20 with the other recipients at a Hilton Harrisburg reception. They will also be featured in a special supplement to the Oct. 22 edition of the Central Penn Business Journal along with its 2011 Book of Lists publication.<br><br>Hussey, 39, a resident of Mechanicsburg, joined the Widener Law faculty in 2004. The following year he was named faculty director of the school’s <a href="/CampusLife/ActivitiesandOrganizations/OtherHarrisburgOrganizations/VolunteerIncomeTaxAssistanceProgram.aspx">VITA</a>, or Volunteer Income Tax Assistance, program for the Harrisburg campus. In this role he recruits student and alumni volunteers, trains and organizes them into a force of about 30 professionals who prepare tax returns for retirees, the working poor and others who meet income-eligibility guidelines. Hussey also volunteers with the Money In Your Pocket Campaign, which coordinates and organizes approximately 12 VITA locations in the tri-county area. <br><br>Widener Law’s 2009 graduating class voted Hussey professor of the year for the Harrisburg campus. Members of that class went on to achieve a 94.3 percent pass rate for first-time test takers on the July 2009 Pennsylvania bar exam – the highest bar pass rate in Widener Harrisburg history. Hussey shared credit for that with his fellow faculty members. He was the only full-time faculty member teaching Wills and Trusts – a key component of legal education routinely tested on bar exams – at that time.<br><br>He also teaches federal income tax, business organizations, tax policy, and estate planning, and writes in the areas of taxation, executive compensation, and estate planning. He holds a law degree from St. Louis University School of Law and an LL.M., or legal master’s degree, from Washington University School of Law. <br><br>Weaver graduated from Widener Law in 1998. She is a member of the real estate and construction law practice group at McNees Wallace &amp; Nurick LLC in Harrisburg. Snoke Dubbs graduated in 2005. She is corporate counsel, human resources director and business manager to First Capital Engineering Inc. in York, Pa.<br><br>Hussey, Weaver and Snoke Dubbs were selected for the honor by a four-judge panel, comprised of past award recipients. Judges included Steve Buterbaugh, vice president of McConkey Insurance &amp; Benefits; Tonya McGee, COO of BVFR &amp; Associates LLC and president of Town &amp; Country Day School; Brian Wassell, partner with Trout Ebersole Groff; and Deepa Mehta Balepur, principal and partner of The Wolman Group, RE/MAX Associates of Lancaster.<br><br>“I congratulate Michael, Rhonda and Amanda on this well-deserved honor,” Ammons said. “Michael exemplifies Widener Law’s ideals of civic engagement and service learning through his work with the students and his service to the community, particularly through the VITA program. Our alumnae demonstrate that Widener Law graduates are community leaders. I am proud of all of them.”