Suzanne Reynolds
Suzanne Reynolds (born July 5, 1949, in Lexington, North Carolina) is a law professor and the dean emerita of Wake Forest University School of Law. She was the first woman to lead the school, serving as dean after four years as executive associate dean for academic affairs. In 2008, she ran for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court but lost narrowly to the incumbent, Robert H. Edmunds Jr.
Education: B.A. from Meredith College (1971); M.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1976); J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law (1977).
Career: After law school she worked at the Greensboro law firm Smith Moore Smith Schell & Hunter until joining Wake Forest.
Family: In 1978 she married attorney Robert M. "Hoppy" Elliot. They have three children: Reynolds Michael Elliot (b. 1980), Caroline McDonald Elliot (b. 1982), and Lillie Mauldin Elliot (b. 1987). Her parents are Claude Morris Reynolds Sr. and Eugenia McDonald, and she has a brother, Claude Morris Reynolds Jr.
Awards and publications: North Carolina Governor's Distinguished Woman of the Year for Education (1998); Gwyneth B. Davis Award for Public Service from the North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys (1996); Joseph Branch Teaching Excellence Award from Wake Forest Law School (1994). She coauthored the three-volume Lee's North Carolina Family Law.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 10:16 (CET).