Richard Coffinberger

Richard Coffinberger earned a Bachelor of Science in economics with honors from the University of Florida, a Master of Science in business from Virginia Tech, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Wake Forest University School of Law.

Coffinberger was licensed to practice law in Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia, as well as before the United States Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. He taught for four years at the Pamplin School of Business of Virginia Tech before accepting a faculty position at George Mason University in 1978.

Coffinberger taught courses on business law, real estate law, and the legal and ethical environment of business. He taught in the Mason School of Business undergraduate, MBA, and Executive MBA programs. In 1988, he received a university award for Outstanding Academic Advising, and he was recognized as the "Teacher of the Year" by the Executive MBA class of 2002. Coffinberger taught for 12 years in a national CPA Review course and developed course materials it.

Coffinberger published articles in the Wake Forest Law Review, the Business Law Review, the Labor Law Journal, the Journal of Collective Negotiations in the Public Sector, the Commercial Law Review, the U.C.C. Law Journal, the Journal of Marketing and Public Policy, and the Journal of Legal Studies Education.

Coffinberger also served as a staff editor for the American Business Law Journal, and for several years as editor for the Annual Proceedings of the Mid-Atlantic Region Academy of Legal Studies in Business. Coffinberger was also a manuscript reviewer for the Mid-West Law Review, the Journal of Legal Studies in Business, and the Annual Proceedings of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business.

Coffinberger has been active in both internal and external service activities. Externally he has served as a commercial arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, a consultant on business accreditation issues and pedagogical matters, and as an expert witness on business ethics. He is a past-president of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business as well as the Mid-Atlantic Region Academy of Legal Studies in Business. Lastly, he served as the Managing Editor of the Journal of Legal Studies Education.

Internally, Coffinberger served for many years as a School of Business representative to the Faculty Senate; as a member of the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate, and a Senate liaison to the George Mason University Board of Visitors. He was member of the university’s General Education Task Force and numerous other university level committees. Coffinberger served as the first associate dean of the School and chaired the successful effort to earn AACSB accreditation for the school.