Marianna Brown Bettman is Distinguished Teaching Professor and Professor of Practice Emerita at the University of Cincinnati College of Law. She began teaching at the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 1999, and retired February 1, 2016. She taught Torts, Legal Ethics, and a seminar on the Supreme Court of Ohio. Bettman was also the Director of the Judicial Externship Program and the Judge-in-Residence Program. From 1993-1999, Bettman was a judge on the Ohio First District Court of Appeals, the first woman ever elected to that position. Before assuming the bench, Bettman was in private practice.
Bettman also serves as a consultant to lawyers statewide on appellate issues. She writes a monthly newspaper column for the American Israelite, and is a frequent lecturer to community and civic groups about law and the courts, making it a personal hallmark to make the law understandable to the public.
Bettman has won a number of teaching awards, including the university-wide Distinguished Teaching Professor Award, the highest teaching prize awarded at the University of Cincinnati. She is also a winner of the Dolly Cohen Award for excellence in teaching at the University of Cincinnati, a university-wide prize, and the Goldman Prize for Excellence in Teaching at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, three times. Bettman has also won the Nettie Cronise Luttes award from the Ohio State Bar Association, the University of Cincinnati Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Law, and the Cincinnati NAACP Fair and Courageous Award.