Paul Verkuil, Professor (and former Dean) at Cardozo, will be the Interim Dean at UM for a one-year period. Here's the official bio from Cardozo:
Professor Verkuil was dean of Cardozo from 1997 to 2001. After practice at two leading law firms in New York, he served on the law faculty of University of North Carolina, as dean of Tulane Law School, and as president of the College of William and Mary. From 1992 to 1995 he was president and CEO of the American Automobile Association. Professor Verkuil was a visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania and served as Special Master in the case of New Jersey v. New York involving the sovereignty of Ellis Island. He is a life fellow of the American Bar Foundation and of the American Law Institute. Professor Verkuil is coauthor of Administrative Law and Process (4th ed. 2004) and Regulation and Deregulation (2nd ed. 2004). He is a leading scholar of law and regulation and has published more than 60 articles in this field
Dean Verkuil's tenure will start officially on August 1, coincidentally the day I'll be getting back to Miami from a trip starting tomorrow.
Excellent Choice!
Any chance he stays on permanently?
He is a great scholar in his field. He is a leading law administrator in New York. He served the top law institute in New York. His articles on law are really fantastic.
_______________________________________________
jerry
Addiction Recovery Pennsylvania
Does this mean there will be a new search or is Verkuil deciding whether he wants to stay or not?
My understanding is that this is strictly a one-year deal. A new search committee will start work in about a month.
I’m not an expert, but aren’t deans’ supposed to stay for extended period of times? Specially if they are as well qualified as Mr. Verkuil… Consistency in policy, rules, plans and other stuff is very-very important for law schools. I’m a little worried about what a one-year dean could mean. I am the only one?
Not to worry.
It is extremely common for an Interim Dean to serve only a year. (A longer term without permanent status would actually worry me more.) And interims are common: We’ve had one interim in the 15 years I’ve been here. There are many law schools out there either starting one-year interims or ending them every year. It’s very normal.
You do lose something from a short tenure. You also get some things, particularly depending who they are. Having a very experienced person is IMHO a good thing, as they hit the ground running. Styles vary. Some just keep things running. Some try to aim to decide one or two big issues while they are around to make the next Dean’s tenure easier.
I’ll have more to say about this later, when classes start, but so far I’m optimistic about what I’m hearing.