Clinical Professor of Law
Director, Legal Clinic
Supervisor, Civil Advocacy Clinic
Faculty Adviser, Public Interest Law Group

John Ammann thought he wanted to be a broadcast journalist until he was assigned to do a story on the last family to move out of Darst-Webbe, a deteriorating public housing project in St. Louis that was to be demolished.

"It was the first time I saw poverty up close and it had a profound impact on me,” recalls Ammann. “I realized then that I’d rather effect change than report on it.”

Professor Ammann has been doing so ever since. After graduating from law school, he went to work for the Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation in Alton, Ill., where he specialized in landlord-tenant law, family law and consumer law. In 1994, he came to Saint Louis University School of Law. In an environment where serving the marginalized is emphasized, Professor Ammann’s passion for fair housing issues flourished.

“Housing is fundamental to everything we do,” he says. “It affects health. It affects education. It affects employment. Housing comes first and I believe it is a right, not a privilege.”

As director of the School’s Legal Clinics, Ammann and his students have been able to argue this point before the courts. In 1997, they won a case that allowed a developer to open a home for Alzheimer’s patients in a residential neighborhood. Professor Ammann and his clinic students also handle the legal paperwork for the St. Louis chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

In 2003, law students thanked Professor Ammann for his guidance by voting him “Faculty Member of the Year.” When accepting the award, Ammann shared his strong belief. “The reward for all your hard work is the greater opportunity to serve others,” he told them.

Professor Ammann recently received the 2003 Governor’s Excellence in Teaching Award, which is given annually to outstanding faculty members from each of the more than 50 public and independent colleges and universities in Missouri. Professor Ammann was selected for his effective teaching and advising, service to the campus community and success in nurturing student achievement.