West Virginia Executive Summer 2017 | Page 101

DiSalvo at a book signing for “M.K. Gandhi, Attorney at Law: The Man Before the Mahatma” in Jaipur, India. Photo by Kathleen Kennedy. DiSalvo’s “M.K. Gandhi, Attorney at Law: The Man Before the Mahatma” is not your typical historical depiction of Gandhi’s legacy as a civil rights leader. Published in 2013, in this biography, DiSalvo digs deeper into Gandhi’s experience in the law as a significant factor in the development of his philosophy and practice of nonvio- lence. DiSalvo goes on to paint the picture with riveting details of Gandhi discovering “within the law the grand dynamic that converts disobedience to change—change even in the law itself.” Complementing his robust teaching career and Mohandas Gandhi expertise, DiSalvo is also committed to volunteer work with organizations and causes centered around working for the public interest, including the West Virginia State Bar Association’s Legal Services for the Poor Committee, Rural Scholarship Committee, State Bar Public Interest Scholarship Committee, Mountain State Justice Board of Directors, St. Francis De Sales Church Refugee Com- mittee and WVU College of Law’s Sustain- ability Committee. In the mid-1980s, DiSalvo was instru- mental in the formation of the West Virginia Fund for Law in the Public Interest, Inc. A law student at the time and today an attorney in Hurricane, WV, Carl Hostler asked DiSalvo to be the faculty adviser for the Public Interest Advocates student organization. Not long after, DiSalvo and Hostler co-founded the fund. “The purpose of the fund is to raise funds to support law students working in the public interest,” says DiSalvo. “Over the years, the private bar has been incredibly supportive of the fund. Through its gen- erosity, the private bar has helped create innumerable summer and post-grad fel- lowships. Many of our brother and sister West Virginians have received essential help as a result of legal work performed by our fellows.” DiSalvo advised the Public Interest Advo- cates and the fund for 23 years. The fund, the single largest employer of WVU law students, has placed 440 students in public interest summer jobs. Today, he remains a member of the fund board. His vast knowledge and extensive service to the WVU College of Law and the legal profession has helped DiSalvo earn numerous college, university, state and national awards. DiSalvo has been named the WVU College of Law Professor of the Year six times, and he has earned the WVU Foundation Out- standing Teacher Award. While he is very grateful for these accolades, there is some- thing that means much more to him. “While I have very much appreciated the sentiments behind the honors, there are things in life more important than awards,” he says. “What has the deepest significance to me is the opportunity to work with my students at the College of Law. I would like every student who comes to the College of Law with a desire to engage in public interest work in West Virginia to graduate with such a job in hand.” The professor of law considers the oppor- tunity to serve on the law school’s faculty to be one of the most meaningful jobs a person can have, though he does miss the opportu- nity to do public interest litigation. “I miss coming into daily contact with people who need the most basic help to get through life,” he says. At the end of the day, DiSalvo’s faith, family and friends keep him motivated in his demanding career. “Work should be fulfilling. To make it ful- filling, each of us tries to unite our work, on the one hand, with our morality, politics and spirituality on the other. Each of us tries to be integrated,” he says. “The law is special in that it offers each of us, whether we are practitioners or professors, a heightened op- portunity to unite what we do with what we believe. While I don’t always succeed at it, I’m grateful for that opportunity.”  DiSalvo at a panel discussion entitled “Gandhi: The Lawyer.” Photo by Duquesne University School of Law. WWW.WVEXECUTIVE.COM S U M M E R 2 017 101