Simone Woung (LAW ’97), an assistant dean and registrar at Georgetown University Law School, died peacefully in her sleep surrounded by family March 17. She was 51. 

Woung was born in Kingston, Jamaica and lived on the island as a child before attending the University of Miami. 

Woung worked alongside students and faculty at Georgetown Law for over two decades, first in Residence Life and Financial Affairs then moving to the Office of the Registrar in 2000. She temporarily left Georgetown to work as the registrar at Marymount University in 2015, then returned to Georgetown Law in 2018 as an assistant dean and registrar. 

Woung also served on numerous university and law center committees and sat on the board of directors for the National Network of Law School Officers, a professional development organization for law school officers. 

As Woung’s family mourns such a sudden loss, they know Woung’s legacy will last lifetimes, according to Woung’s mother, Lois Woung. 

“We will miss Simone very much because she was taken from us suddenly but her memories will live long in our hearts,” Lois wrote in a tribute. “Everyone will always remember Simone as the ray of sunshine that brightened our lives and made a difference to everyone that touched her life. May she Rest In Peace.”

Woung touched the Georgetown Law community deeply, according to Georgetown Law professor Hope Babcock.

“Her gentleness calmed down and defused even the most tense situations,” Babcock wrote to The Hoya. “I shall miss her smile and seeing her in her office — her door was invariably open; she hid behind nothing. Knowing Simone was ‘in’ made everything somehow alright. There will be other registrars I know, but none like Simone, and we will be the poor because of her absence. Her loss is devastating for us.”

Ellis Duncan (LLM ’06), a Georgetown Law professor and director of the graduate tax program, met Woung in December 2011 and said she had an understanding of the importance of diversity and inability to bring light even to the most challenging situations. 

“Even in the most extraordinary circumstances, the two of us were able to find some humor in the circumstances that helped us understand that life was bigger than whatever emergency situation we were encountering here,” Duncan wrote to The Hoya. 

“It was important to maintain a certain sense of humor about things because some of the situations could really affect us emotionally, physically,” Duncan wrote. 

Paul Ohm, an associate dean, law professor and chief data officer at Georgetown University, said he worked closely with Woung. He wrote a tribute to her, which he shared with Georgetown Law faculty and staff. 

“She was fiercely protective of everybody she was charged to protect — and many she was not,” Ohm wrote in the tribute. “She advocated forcefully for the staff in her office, the students, and the staff in other offices. She was always willing to speak truth to power — sometimes a little too frankly — but only when she thought the situation demanded it.”

Anne Marie Miller (LAW ’24), a transfer law student who met Woung late last year, said the support she received from Woung was integral in her transition to campus, especially as she dealt with a family emergency.

“Simone was incredibly compassionate as I cried in her office (completely unexpectedly) while sharing about the last year and a half my father (and family) has struggled since he had a massive stroke in May 2021,” Miller wrote to The Hoya. 

“I am extremely grateful to her for helping me have that time with him, and for her compassionate ear as a new transfer student in an unfamiliar campus dealing with intense personal things.” Miller added. 

Woung met her best friend and future husband, Carl Binns, on Valentine’s Day in 2004 at Georgetown, according to the tribute. Together, they have one child, Taylor Eliane, their nine-year-old daughter, who was one of the greatest joys in Woung’s life.

Carol Walsh, who described herself as a longtime friend of Woung, said she cherished the opportunity to spend decades alongside her friend Simone, from college years to the birth of her daughter.

“Our years together at Georgetown were one of the highlights of my life,” Walsh wrote on the tribute page. “But I also got to be a witness to Simone’s life when she ‘grew up.’ You cannot imagine how wonderful and rewarding it was to see Simone get married, settle down, and have a family. No one deserved that happiness more.”

Woung is survived by Carl, Lois, Taylor, her father Maurice Woung, brother Andi Woung and sister Marguerite Woung-Chapman, as well as her brothers-in-law, nieces, cousins, aunts and uncles.