Professor and Associate Dean of Community Relations
at Thomas Cooley Law School
Helen Pratt Mickens is a Professor and Associate Dean of Community Relations at Thomas Cooley Law School. She holds a B.A. from Kalamazoo College, an M.A. from Michigan State University, and a J.D. cum laude from Thomas Cooley Law School.
After graduation from Cooley, Professor Mickens was a law clerk to then Michigan Appeals Court Judge Michael F. Cavanagh, who now serves as a Michigan Supreme Court Justice.
A member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Professor Mickens held positions with the State Bar of Michigan and was a franchise and securities examiner with the Michigan Department of Commerce. She is a member of the state bars of Michigan and Louisiana, and she served as a member of the Michigan Supreme Court Task Force on Gender Issues in the Courts.
Professor Mickens was the first female president of the Rotary Club of Lansing in 1994. She is a fellow of the State Bar of Michigan, has been a member of the board of directors of the Ingham County Bar Association and served on the boards of directors of Kalamazoo College, Olivet College, of the Mid-Michigan Red Cross, as well as the Rotary Club of Lansing Foundation. She is currently serving on the MSU Museum Development Council. She has been a member of the State Bar of Michigan Committee on Legal Education. She served as an Assistant and Associate Dean at Cooley from 1982-1996, before assuming her current role in 2002.
Professor Mickens and her husband Charles Mickens have been married for over twenty years. The Mickens reside in Lansing and enjoy the wonderful variety of ethnic and specialty restaurants in the city. They enjoy gardening and music. They have traveled extensively but always look forward to coming home.
