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Ada Meloy

General Counsel
(202) 939-9355
Specialization: Legal Issues in Higher Education, Academic Freedom, Admissions, Discrimination Issues, Tenure, University Governance

Since her arrival at ACE in 2007, Ada Meloy has focused on many legal issues in higher education. In particular, she has chaired a working group examining ethical and conflict issues faced by institutions and their faculty, staff and administrations. She has been featured as an expert on issues related to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and other issues arising from the April 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech. She was an active participant in the efforts to modify chemical security regulations issued by the Department of Homeland Security, and also has served as ACE's representative on the Higher Education Coalition for Patent Reform.

Meloy joined ACE after a distinguished 28-year career at New York University’s Office of Legal Counsel. She served as deputy general counsel for over 10 years and as acting general counsel for NYU in 2005-06. Meloy handled a wide range of legal matters during her tenure at the university, including academic disputes, discrimination issues, tenure, grievance and discipline matters, and intellectual property litigations. She litigated on behalf of the institution on numerous occasions, handled the day-to-day management of the Office of Legal Counsel, and supervised the work of outside counsel.

Meloy has also served extensively on committees and spoken at conferences of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. In 2000, she co-founded the Prisoners’ Reading Encouragement Project—which enhances literacy and educational opportunities for inmates—for which she currently serves as a director. She has been a member of the bar Committee on Professional Ethics and the Disciplinary Committee for New York attorneys. She is a member of both the New York and District of Columbia bars as well as the bars of various federal courts.

Prior to joining NYU, she was an associate at the New York law firm of Cahill Gordon & Reindel.

Meloy is a graduate of Wellesley College (MA), where she was a Wellesley Scholar. She earned her J.D. from the NYU School of Law in 1973.