Michael Han serves at Nike, Inc., headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon, overseeing a team responsible for advising and aiding innovation teams in their collaborations with third parties to create new and/or improved materials and products. They support Nike worldwide in areas including footwear, apparel, manufacturing, and equipment. Han is an indispensable employee, ensuring the security of Nike’s intellectual assets and protecting the company from those who seek to replicate products without consent. Han additionally serves on the leadership team for the Office of General Counsel’s chapter of the Ascend Network, an organization that celebrates Asian culture and supports employees of Asian descent.
As a student in UT’s College of Law, Han served as the Research Editor of the Tennessee Law Review, the College of Law’s flagship academic journal. Han began his career at DLA Piper’s San Diego office as a litigator specializing in intellectual property. Preceding his current position at Nike, Han served as Senior Legal Counsel for Samsung Electronics R&D headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, specializing in intellectual property licensing; his work primarily supported consumer electronics products, specifically mobile phones.
Prior to pursuing a legal career, Han graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1995 with a bachelor’s in molecular biology and then conducted research at Vanderbilt Medical School on the signal transduction pathways and the molecular genetics of autism.
Han has served within his communities in numerous ways, including as president of the Korean-American Bar Association of San Diego. Although he has moved far from his Tennessee home and alma mater, Han does not hesitate to return to Rocky Top to share his experiences with current students and support the College of Law through his participation on the Advisory Board. In his free time, Han is an avid runner and surfer and a parent to a retired racing greyhound named Shelby.
