School of Law dean search committee announced

Keating to serve as interim dean

Holden Thorp, PhD, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at Washington University in St. Louis, has appointed an eight-member committee to identify candidates for the position of dean of the School of Law.

Kent D. Syverud, JD, dean and the Ethan A.H. Shepley Distinguished University Professor, recently was named Syracuse University’s next chancellor. He will begin transitioning to that role Nov. 24.

“We are happy for Kent and proud that he has been selected to lead Syracuse University to greater heights,” Thorp said.

Keating

Daniel Keating, JD, the Tyrrell Williams Professor of Law, will serve as interim dean. At the law school, Keating has served twice as interim dean, as well as vice dean and associate dean.

“Dan Keating has stepped up time and time again to serve his school,” Thorp said. “He enjoys the respect of his colleagues and the confidence of the administration in steering the law school through this interim period.”

Thorp and the search committee will work to have a new law dean in place by July 1.

“This is an important search at a challenging but exciting time in legal education,” Thorp said. “The Washington University School of Law has grown and improved considerably in recent years and is poised for another exciting chapter.”

The committee

Edward F. Lawlor, PhD, dean of the Brown School and the William E. Gordon Distinguished Professor, will chair the law dean search committee.

Lawlor

“We are grateful to Eddie Lawlor and the distinguished committee for committing their time and judgment to this most important search,” Thorp said.

“Eddie’s vast experience as a dean makes him uniquely qualified to help us find the best leader for our magnificent law school.”

In addition to Lawlor, committee members are:

Howard Cayne, JD, partner at Arnold & Porter, law school alumnus and member of the university’s Board of Trustees;
Cort VanOstran, third-year law student;
Peggie Smith, JD, the Charles F. Nagel Professor of Employment and Labor Law;
Hillary Sale, JD, the Walter D. Coles Professor of Law;
Pauline Kim, JD, the Charles Nagel Professor of Law;
John Drobak, JD, the George Alexander Madill Professor of Real Property & Equity Jurisprudence; and
Matthew Gabel, PhD, professor of political science in Arts & Sciences.