Law School Dean Searches 2013-14

Updated and finalized August 23, 2014

It's time for the new list.  I'll start with what I know, and look forward to hearing of additional searches from our readers.  Please email me the information at DMF55[at]DREXEL[dot]EDU.  I will delete comments that are not purely informational in nature.  

Last year's search list is here. (2011-12 is here, 2010-11 is here, 2009-10 is here, and 2008-09 is here.)

 

Akron (Matthew Wilson named dean)

Alabama  (search committee includes Joseph Colquitt, Heather Elliott,  Julie Hill, Anne Hornsby and  Ron Krotoszynski) (Mark Brandon named dean)

Alberta (Paul Paton named dean)

Ave Maria (Kevin Cieply named dean)

Belmont (Alberto Gonzales named dean)

California - Berkeley (Sujit Choudhry named dean)

Columbia (search committee here) (Gillian Lester, Gillian Metzger, Jennifer Mnookin and Ted Ruger finalists) (Gillian Lester named dean)

Cornell (search committee here) (Eduardo Peñalver named dean) 

Detroit - Mercy (Phyllis Crocker named dean)

Elon (Witt/Kieffer consulting) (Luke Bierman named dean)

Faulkner (Matt Vega named dean)

Florida (search committee here) (Korn/Ferry consulting) (Alex Acosta, David Brennen, Samuel Donaldson and David Huebner finalists) (search did not yield a new dean)

Florida Coastal

George Washington (Korn Ferry consulting) (search committee here) (Blake Morant named dean)

Hamline (Jean Holloway named dean)

Houston (Witt/Kieffer consulting; search committee here) (finalists are Leonard Baynes, Michael Cahill, Danielle Holley-Walker, Maria Pabon Lopez, Lawrence Ponoroff, and Melanie Wilson) (Leonard Baynes named dean)

Howard (search committee here) (Korn Ferry consulting) (Danielle Holley-Walker named dean)

Idaho (search committee here) (Mark Adams named dean)

Indiana - Bloomington (Korn/Ferry consulting; search committee here) (Austen Parrish named dean)

John Marshall in Atlanta (Malcolm Morris named dean)

Lewis and Clark (Jennifer Johnson named dean)

Louisville (Susan Duncan named interim dean for an additional three years)

Maine

Maryland (search committee here) (Isaacson, Miller consulting) (Donald Tobin named dean)

Mississippi College of Law (Wendy Scott named dean)

Montana (Robert Ackerman, Norman Bay, Oren Griffin, and Andrew King-Ries finalists) (August 2014 update: three new finalists are Donald Judges, David Frakt, and and Marcilynne Burk)

New Brunswick (Geldart Group consulting)

Nova Southeastern (Korn/Ferry consulting) (Jon Garon named dean)

Pace (Witt/Kieffer consulting) (David Yassky named dean)

Penn

Penn State

Roger Williams (Michael Yelnosky named dean)

Samford (Henry Strickland named dean)

Southern Methodist (Russell Reynolds consulting; search committee here) (Jennifer Collins named dean)

St. Mary's (Witt/Kieffer consulting) (Stephen Sheppard named dean)

Texas A&M (search committee is here) (Leonard Baynes, Beto Juarez, Andy Moriss, and Matt Parlow finalists) (Andy Morriss named dean)

Utah (Robert Adler named dean)

Valparaiso (Andrea Lyon named dean)

Washington University in St. Louis (search committee here) (Nancy Staudt named dean)

Wayne State  (R. William Funk consulting) (Jocelyn Benson named dean)

William Mitchell

Wyoming

Comments

[Alfred L. Brophy]

This is in the request for information (rather than providing information) category: I've asked before what people think about search firms. The responses have been mixed. I see again that there are a lot of schools using firms. Do those who've had a recent experience with them (or are experiencing them now) find them worthwhile? A positive experience? I'm guessing yes or schools would stop using them.

[John]

I've co-chaired a dean search committee within the past 3 years. The law school is part of a large, state university. After some initial difficulties in the search, the President of the university demanded that the search committee use a search firm. The sense of the committee was that the search firm probably wouldn't be that useful except in one way: it would validate the search to the President. And that's pretty much how it played out. On a few points, the search firm utterly failed to do what I would expect it to have done -- such as catching some problems with a specific candidate. On other points, it was helpful. Over all, it relieved us of some of the work (like calling references) about as often as it imposed on us additional work (like listening to the search firm professional state the obvious with a power point). On occasion, having a third party involved did help bridge some of the differences in perspectives between faculty and alumni members of the search committee. At the end of the day, mostly what the President bought himself was the feeling that the search process was about as good as he could hope for. And there's some value to that, I suppose.

[Alfred L. Brophy]

Thanks, John -- that's helpful and makes sense.

[Orin Kerr]

I share John's view that the primary purpose of a search firm is to make the university's President feel that the Dean search was done properly.

[not fake]

That's the kind of image that i really thing is super image like. If more images very real like this were out there we'd be super full of graet images in the world.

[Former dean candidate]

I think the value of the search firm to a school depends greatly on the firm and the individual search consultants. As a deanship candidate, I have had mixed experiences. One in particular was quite good and helpful-- she served as an excellent intermediary for the search committee including confidentiality at the early stages in the process and later in the search provided useful advice concerning an internal faculty dispute. Another, however, seemed to harm the search with miscommunications in both directions.