Until July 1, 2016 Michael Cannon served for over 23 years as Executive Vice Chancellor & General Counsel at Washington University in St. Louis where he and the 13 other attorneys comprising the Office of General Counsel (OGC) he directed were responsible for providing legal representation and counsel to all academic and administrative components of the University, including the School of Medicine and its faculty practice plan.  He also served as a member of the University’s executive management team advising the Chancellor on significant administrative and programmatic matters affecting the University.  For 10 years, Mr. Cannon also taught a course on Insurance Law at the Washington University School of Law.

Legal responsibilities assumed by OGC at Washington University include assuring compliance with all laws and regulations affecting education, health care, federally sponsored research and employment; managing university litigation in all areas, e.g., fair employment, licensing disputes, medical malpractice, business torts, student issues, etc.; providing counsel on wide range of commercial transactions, e.g., tax-exempt public financing, managed care contracts, health care joint ventures, insurance arrangements, construction contracts, etc.; developing internal policies in areas relating to faculty compensation, Title IX controversies, scientific misconduct, research conflict of interest, personnel grievances, etc.; providing confidential counsel on personnel matters; and selecting and supervising outside counsel.

Before assuming his position at Washington University in 1993, Mr. Cannon was a partner in the Washington, DC law firm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding with a general commercial law counseling and litigation practice and a particular emphasis on insurance contract litigation, counseling and negotiation. Prior to his career in private practice, Mr. Cannon served as a federal prosecutor of public official corruption cases with the Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Public Integrity Section.

Mr. Cannon graduated from Yale Law School in 1978 and Washington University (Economics) in 1973.  He also received a B. Litt. in Politics from Oxford University which he attended on a Rhodes Scholarship awarded in 1973.

Since leaving his post as Executive Vice Chancellor & General Counsel at Washington University, Mr. Cannon has founded and co-led the higher education practice at a global law firm, and thereafter co-founded a consulting firm with the former Chancellor of Washington University to provide advice to university presidents and board chairs on a wide array of governance, financial and strategic issues confronting their universities and its medical affairs enterprises.