News Center: News Releases

USD Law Dean Announces Return to Faculty in Summer 2011

Search for new dean to begin immediately to ensure smooth transition

SAN DIEGO (June 3, 2010)—After a decade of administrative service to the University of San Diego, Kevin Cole has elected to step down as dean of the School of Law and return to his regular faculty position in the summer of 2011. The search for his successor will begin immediately.

"Being dean of the law school has been a privilege and a source of great satisfaction, but ten years is a long time to be away from the teaching and research that drew me to academia in the first place," Cole said. "I look forward to working more closely with students again."

Next year will mark Cole's sixth year as dean of USD School of Law. In the four immediately preceding years, he served as the school’s associate dean.

While accepting Dean Cole's decision "with regret," Executive Vice President and Provost Julie Sullivan stated, "The law school is in a strong position to attract a highly talented successor to Dean Cole, in large part because of his efforts on behalf of the school during his deanship."

The law school has seen significant improvement in the statistical profile of its entering class, helping the school to its highest ever ranking in America’s Best Graduate Schools, published annually by U.S News & World Report. Dean Cole also oversaw the successful conclusion of the law school's first endowment campaign and significant improvement to student services.

Other notable accomplishments during Dean Cole's tenure have included the founding of the law school's Center for Corporate & Securities Law and the San Diego Journal on Climate and Energy Law, the nation’s first student-run climate and energy law journal. In addition, the newly formed Center for Intellectual Property Law & Markets has expanded the school's curriculum in this area of increasing importance and has created a public forum for discussion of cutting-edge issues of central importance to the region.

Dean Cole said his announcement was timed to ensure the school adequate time to search for a replacement. Work has begun to form a search committee, which will solicit and evaluate candidacies during the fall 2010 semester with an eye toward bringing finalists for on-campus interviews early in the spring 2011 semester. The committee will include faculty, students and alumni.

“This will be an attractive deanship because of the quality of our students and faculty and the enthusiasm of our alumni,” Cole said. “I am sure that the years ahead will build on the progress we have been able to make.”

About the University of San Diego School of Law
The University of San Diego School of Law is a center of academic excellence focused on preparing its students for legal practice in the new century. One of the most selective law schools in the country, the School of Law’s nationally recognized faculty create a demanding, yet welcoming environment that emphasizes individualized education. USD law school graduates consistently score higher than the state average on the California Bar Exam and go on to practice law throughout the country and abroad, forming an influential network of alumni. The USD School of Law is one of only 80 law schools in the country to have a chapter of The Order of the Coif, the most distinguished rank of American law schools. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1954, the law school is part of the University of San Diego, a private, nonprofit, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949. Please visit the school’s website at law.sandiego.edu for more information.

—30—