For the first time in 39 years, the future president of the Association of American Law Schools will be a Buckeye.Gregory H. Williams, dean of the College of Law, was named president-elect at the association’s annual meeting last week in San Francisco. He will take office in 1999.The association is a group of legal associates from 178 schools across the country, he said.Victoria Eastus, assistant to the dean, said she was impressed to see how much respect Williams had nationally.There were 25 deans and members of OSU’s faculty at the conference, said Deborah J. Merritt, an OSU professor of law.The theme of this year’s meeting was “Law in a Global Context.” It addressed issues of the legal profession operating in a global community, Williams said.Different programs were held at the four-day meeting, focusing on such areas as diversity, curriculum, professionalism, criminal law and commercial law, he said.Several OSU faculty spoke on panels for various programs.Merritt is the incoming chair of the Association Committee on Curriculum and Research, and she spoke on a panel about legal scholarship.Camille Hebert, associate dean of the College of Law, was last year’s chair of the Committee on Employment Discrimination, and helped to organize a panel on hate speech and the first amendment for this year’s meeting, Merritt said.Affirmative action was also addressed at the conference. The Society of American Law Teachers organized a march and rally to protest California’s proposition 209, which prohibits the use of race as a consideration for admission to law school, Eastus said.The meetings provide an opportunity for law schools around the country to learn how other schools operate, and to exchange new ideas.”It is helpful to hear what other law schools are doing and share ideas,” Eastus said.Representatives from other schools focused attention on OSU’s public interest work, internship program, curriculum development and legal writing programs, Williams said.