Rate My Professor Elizabeth Wiles

In her multifaceted roles at Truman, Wiles chairs Legal Studies and Pre-Law Programming, dedicated to providing meaningful mentorship that improves access to legal education for students from all backgrounds. As Director of Interdisciplinary Studies & Student Research, she oversees the Interdisciplinary Studies Major, interdisciplinary minors, Junior Interdisciplinary Seminar, First Year Seminar, and key student research programs such as Tru Scholars, Grants in Aid of Scholarship & Research, and the annual Student Research Conference. Her courses include Introduction to Criminal Justice Studies, Wrongful Convictions, American Law & Society, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law & Due Process: Limits on Law Enforcement, First Amendment: Fight for Free Speech, and Criminal Justice Studies Capstone. Wiles' academic interests focus on higher education and legal education policy, wrongful convictions and the innocence movement, and merit-based judicial selection methods. She has organized impactful events like “Tru Crime Day,” featuring student-led book discussions on justice themes, community participation, and a Holman Family Distinguished Speaker Series address by Anthony Ray Hinton, author of The Sun Does Shine. Her contributions have earned her the William O'Donnell Lee Advising Award in 2020, Educator of the Year in 2024, and the Governor's Award for Excellence in Education from Governor Mike Kehoe in 2025. In 2025, Wiles was promoted to Associate Professor and granted tenure.