Deputy General Counsel

Grainne Martin
Ms. Martin is a Deputy General Counsel concentrating on Research and Regulatory Legal Services.  Prior to joining the Office of the General Counsel in 1999, Ms. Martin was the Associate Director and Compliance Officer in the University's Office of Affirmative Action, where she worked in the areas of employment law and civil rights law.  Prior to joining the UI in 1989, Ms. Martin was in private practice and clerked for Judge Allen Donielson of the Iowa Court of Appeals.  She received a B.A. cum laude in French from Cornell College, an M.A. in French from the University of Iowa, and a J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law, where she served as a Note and Comment Editor of the Iowa Law Review. 

Ms. Martin was a 2005 recipient of the Board of Regents Staff Excellence Award.

  
grainne-martin@uiowa.edu
Direct Dial:  (319)335-2742

back to top

Gay Pelzer
Ms. Pelzer is a Deputy General Counsel concentrating on Business and Legal Services and adjunct lecturer in the University of Iowa College of Law, where she has taught an annual seminar on higher education law for the past 15 years.   Ms. Pelzer received her B.S.N. Degree cum laude from Coe College, and her J.D. degree with high distinction from the University of Iowa College of Law, where she was awarded Order of the Coif and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Corporation Law.  Prior to attending law school, she was a registered nurse specializing in neonatal intensive care and perinatal research.  Since 1995, she has served on the review panel of the American Journal of Maternal/Child Nursing. 

gay-pelzer@uiowa.edu
Jessup Hall Office:  (319)335-3025
College of Medicine Office:  (319)335-8448

back to top

Maria Lukas

Ms. Lukas previously served as Investigating Officer under the University Faculty Dispute Procedures and has been an adjunct lecturer for Trial Advocacy at the University of Iowa College of Law and a faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Attorneys' Mid-America Regional Conference.  Before coming to Iowa City, Ms. Lukas was a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in the Marion County (Indianapolis) Prosecutor's Office Felonies Division; a commercial arbitrator in Chicago; and in private practice with two law firms in Chicago, where she focused on director and officer liability, professional errors and omissions, and litigation work.  Ms. Lukas received her undergraduate and law degrees from Northwestern University.   She also earned an MBA from the University of Iowa Henry B. Tippie School of Management.

maria-lukas@uiowa.edu
Direct Dial:  (319)353-0097

back to top

Deputy Counsel

James D. Jorgensen

Mr. Jorgensen is a Deputy Counsel and an adjunct assistant professor in the Tippie College of Business.   He is pursuing his Ph.D. in Higher Education at The University of Iowa.  He received his B.A. with distinction in economics and political science from Iowa State University and graduated from the University of Michigan Law School.  Prior to returning to graduate school, he practiced law for approximately ten years with firms in Chicago and Phoenix, concentrating his practice in employment law and business litigation.  Mr. Jorgensen has also taught business law at Kirkwood Community College.  Mr. Jorgensen focuses on labor and employment law issues, ADA compliance, threat assessment, contracting, estates, and debt collection.

james-jorgensen@uiowa.edu

Direct Dial:  (319)335-0400

back to top

Nathan E. Levin

Mr. Levin is a Deputy Counsel.  He received his B.S. in Exercise Science from the University of Iowa and his J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law.  Prior to joining the Office of the General Counsel in September 2011, he worked in private practice with two firms in Iowa, concentrating his practice in contracts, real estate, civil litigation, criminal defense, appellate work, and taxation.  Mr. Levin also worked in the Compliance Department at Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, IA and then for over four years as Associate Director in the Joint Office for Compliance at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. 

nathan-levin@uiowa.edu

Direct Dial:  (319)384-3340

back to top

Director, Environmental Compliance and

Deputy Counsel

Michael P. Valde

Mr. Valde holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University, and received his law degree (J.D.) from the University of Iowa College of Law.  He is an adjunct lecturer on the faculty of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the University Of Iowa College Of Engineering.   Prior to coming to the University of Iowa, Mr. Valde served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Environmental Protection Division of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office as an enforcement attorney, worked as an environmental compliance manager for a regulated corporation.  From 1999- 2002 he was the head of the Environmental Protection Division of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the state’s environmental regulatory agency.

michael-valde@uiowa.edu

Direct Dial:  (319)335-6190

back to top

Associate Director of Athletics for Legal Affairs

Mark Abbott

Mr. Abbott is the Associate Director of Athletics for Legal Affairs.  He has been a member of the Intercollegiate Athletics Department staff since 1989 where he has worked in student services, event management, was the Trademark Licensing Director for 9 years, and Assistant to the Director of Athletics for 6 years.  Before coming to Iowa City, Mr. Abbott practiced law in Davenport, Iowa for 15 years.  He received a B.A. in Psychology from Cornell College, a J.D. from The University of Iowa, and a Masters Degree in Sports Administration from Ohio University.  Mr. Abbott’s office is located in the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at Carver Hawkeye Arena.

mark-abbott@uiowa.edu

Direct Dial:  (319)335-9227

back to top