Anne L. Nichol
- Contact me via email: anne.nichol@pcc.edu
- Virtual Office Hours: schedule a meeting on my calendar, or email me to find a meeting time that works for you.
- In-person Office Hours: by appointment at Cascade Campus, CH 202.
Hello! Welcome to my home page.
I am a full-time instructor at PCC, where I’ve taught since 2015. I teach several different criminal justice courses, and I love talking about the law, the courts, and all sorts of related issues with my students!
I started teaching after a career as a lawyer, which I really enjoyed. After graduating from law school at the University of Oregon (back in the 1990s), I spent several years as a civil attorney in New York City and, later, here in Portland. Eventually I became restless at my law firm and decided to pursue my interest in criminal law. I began work at the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office as a deputy district attorney, where my cases involved prosecution of adults and juveniles for everything from misdemeanors to major sex crimes. I also spent several years working on juvenile dependency cases that involved allegations of child abuse and neglect. After I left trial work at the DA’s office, I continued to serve for eight years as a criminal lawyer on a state board supervising GEI (“Guilty Except for Insanity”) patients at the Oregon State Hospital and in our community. And I began teaching here at PCC, where I get to share my own experience and support my students in pursuing careers that they will (hopefully) enjoy as much as I have enjoyed mine.
On a personal note, I’m also a mom (to four young adults and one dog), and I love to read, follow news and politics, and drink coffee. I’m always happy to spend time outside and one of my favorite parts of the day is taking a long walk with my dog.
I teach entirely online these days, and sometimes I miss standing in front of my students explaining, lecturing and clarifying. However, in my classes I do try to recreate that a little bit, with written explanations, video lectures, and responses to your posts and assignments. I always encourage my students to ask lots of questions and share their feedback with me. I look forward to hearing from every student in my courses and finding ways to get to know all my students in the online environment.
Please reach out if you have questions about any of my courses or about criminal justice at PCC.
At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst.
~ Aristotle