New Law School Administrators Appointed
Dean Kent Syverud has announced several law school administrative changes for 2009-10.
On January 1, 2010, Peter Joy, professor of law and former director of the Trial and Advocacy Program, will become the new Vice Dean. Joy has been a leader nationally in addressing curriculum development in legal education, including serving as a member of the Accreditation Committee of the ABA’s Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, former Chair of the Clinical Section of the Association of American Law Schools, and past President of the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA). Joy also has served as director of the law school’s Criminal Justice Clinic and is well known for his teaching and scholarship in clinical legal education, legal ethics, and trial practice.
“Peter is extraordinarily well positioned by accomplishments, training, talent, and temperament to help lead our school through the challenges ahead,” Syverud said. “In light of dramatic current changes in the practice of law, his background in curriculum development will be a major asset as we focus on this area in the coming year.”
Joy succeeds Daniel Keating, the Tyrrell Williams Professor of Law, who is returning to the full-time faculty. Keating, who joined the faculty in 1988, has served as interim dean twice, associate dean, and vice dean for a combined 16 years.
“Dan has been at the heart of everything that makes this school work well, including every administrative and academic challenge imaginable,” Syverud said. “There is no one more dedicated to this school, and no one better at holding this place together. On the other hand, I feel a responsibility to Dan and to this school to enable him to achieve his highest and best calling, as a teacher of large commercial law courses and as a scholar in bankruptcy and UCC.”
Also on January 1, 2010, Pete Milne will be stepping down as Associate Dean for Administration. Milne has served on the management team at the law school since 1995. During the spring semester, with the completion of the building and renovation projects, Pat Rolfe also will be retiring as Facility Manager. This summer, the law school will launch a search for a Chief Operating Officer to succeed to Milne.
“It is difficult to imagine us getting through the challenges of the past decade – in our buildings, budget, and human resources – without Pete’s hard work and support,” Syverud said.
Marion Crain, the Wiley B. Rutledge Professor of Law, will become the new director for the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies on January 1, 2010. An expert on labor and employment law, Crain will succeed John Drobak as the center’s director. Before joining the law faculty in 2008, Crain directed the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina. Drobak, the George Alexander Madill Professor of Real Property & Equity Jurisprudence, will return to full-time teaching. During the past nine years, Drobak has been highly successful in bringing path-breaking research and conferences with an interdisciplinary focus to the law school.
Professor Jo Ellen Lewis will be serving as director of the Legal Practice Program in 2009-10, succeeding Professor Jane Moul, whose two-year term will end on July 1. Lewis, who previously served in this role, will be working closely with the Curriculum Committee on related issues.
In 2009-10, Professor Pauline Kim, will serve an additional year as Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development, and Professor Annette Appell will continue as Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs.
