Meet Trevor Hughes, School of Law

May 9, 2011

Trevor Hughes does a lot of running in his professional life, keeping the law school’s website up and running, and in his personal life, as a triathlete. He’ll be participating in his first “Half Ironman” competition this month. After graduating from Wake Forest in 2002, he joined the law school staff in 2003 and is now webmaster and assistant director of communications.

What do you do?

Most days, I’m a computer nerd. My time is spent writing code, reading code, reading about how to write code. The majority of code I write is geared towards building a better-looking and better functioning website for the law school. I also am responsible for design of most of the print publications/marketing materials, including our admissions search pieces and the alumni magazine, The Jurist.

What do you most enjoy about your job?

The freedom and flexibility. I have the freedom (and responsibility) to make decisions about what projects I take on, and what the priority is. With that comes the flexibility to change direction in a flash. When some new technology comes out that I want to try, no problem, just give it a try. As long as our website is working, and we are continually moving forward, I get to influence greatly the direction we move.

If you needed a lawyer, which law professor would you call?

Tim Davis. As a sports junkie, I’ve been following the NFL labor issues pretty closely the last few months, and there are a great many facets to the discussion that I don’t understand, and most of the talking heads in the national sports media either don’t understand either, or don’t choose to explain to their readers. Tim is our resident sports-law expert, and I’d love to get a lesson in sports law 101 (non-lawyer or law student version), with an opportunity for some serious Q&A at the end.

Where did you grow up?

I was born and raised in Port Orange, Fla., a suburb of Daytona Beach. I spent my summers with my grandparents on the beaches of South Jersey, on Long Beach Island. Oh yea, and there was that one year, when I was ten, that I lived in Belgium.  My father (retired Air Force) was stationed there for three years, so I went to live with him.

How did you end up at Wake Forest?

It really started in high school when I was looking for a place to go to college. Wake Forest was on my short list, along with Furman and Wofford.  When I made my campus visits, it was a done deal, Wake was only place I applied. After I graduated, I took a job over in the Raleigh area for a few months and couldn’t stand all the NCSU, UNC and Duke fans.  So, when a job opened up here on campus, I jumped at the chance to get back to Wake.

Short Answer:
Favorite website? ESPN
Favorite TV show? Burn Notice
Favorite place to eat in Winston-Salem? Skippy’s Hot Dogs
Favorite song on your Ipod? I’m Yours by Jason Mraz

Family?

Married to Courtney Sams Hughes (’04), no children, and 2 boxer-mix puppies we got from a rescue last year.

What do you do when you’re not working?

I’m a triathlete, so when I’m not working, I’m either swimming, biking, or running. I picked up the sport in 2009 after realizing that I’d become a couch potato. I’ve got five races under by belt to date, and will face my first Half Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) in May. Other than training, my wife and I are big football fans, so most weekends in the fall you can find us either attending WFU games on Saturday or Carolina Panther games on Sunday.

What’s your dream job?

As a kid, my response would have been to open a restaurant.  Then when I learned how to use a computer and build websites, my dream job would be to own my own web/technology consulting business.  Today, my dream job would be to open up a triathlon shop/training center. I’d love to become a USA Triathlon certified coach, and have the joy of sharing this sport with others.