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Feeling the Rhythm of North Carolina

Jeff Ward enjoys bluegrass music and would love to play the slide guitar

Jeff Ward, center-left, lecturing fellow and director of the Start-Up Ventures Clinic at Duke School of Law, works with students to provide legal advice and assistance to seed and early-stage entrepreneurial ventures
Jeff Ward, center-left, lecturing fellow and director of the Start-Up Ventures Clinic at Duke School of Law, works with students to provide legal advice and assistance to seed and early-stage entrepreneurial ventures

Name: Jeff WardPosition: Lecturing fellow and director of the Start-Up Ventures Clinic at Duke School of LawYears at Duke: 3 years

What I do at Duke: I teach and supervise students in a range of skill-building and courses. As director of the Start-Up Ventures Clinic, I work with students to provide legal advice and assistance to seed and early-stage entrepreneurial ventures that have not yet raised significant amounts of outside capital.

If I had $5 million, I would: Help my children travel and see the world so they can see how people's lives are different from ours. I'd also open a brewery - a group of friends just did our first batch of homebrew together. I think I'd like to find good-hearted people who want to do positive work for their communities and fund them, too.

My first ever job: I was a paperboy in Everett, Washington, where I delivered weekend editions of my hometown paper on my bike or scooter. It was the Everett Herald. I was 10 and did that for about two years to save up for a stereo. I still use it to listen to music today.

My dream job: I've always thought it'd be a pretty sweet gig to play slide guitar for a bluegrass band, but I find my job here pretty dreamy. I get to teach and provide legal services to communities with limited access to resources and that means I wake up excited and go home happy.

If someone wanted to start a conversation with me they should ask me about: My kids, for sure. I have a 7-year old daughter and a 5-year old son. You can always ask me what books I'm reading. I'm always happy to talk about what people like to read. I really like reading fiction short-listed for the Booker Prize.

What I love about Duke: It's the kind of place where you meet people from all over the world and have a wide range of experiences. At the same time, it feels like we're all neighbors. People speak to each other with such friendliness.

When I'm not at work, I like to: Read to my children and play games with them.

If I could have one superpower, it would be: I've always been jealous of C-3PO [from Star Wars] because I'd love to be able to speak every language. That way I could go all over the world and learn from people in their own language.

Something most people don't know about me: I can put the top of a pint glass in my mouth. Even in my baby pictures you could tell I'd have an extremely large mouth. Who am I to deny a good parlor trick?

Music I like: Live music. I've really enjoyed being a part of North Carolina and its bluegrass culture. You'll find me at Cat's Cradle in Carrboro way too frequently.