USD Law Board of Visitors Member Denise Hickey ’94 (JD) Joins Campaign Committee as Co-Chair
University of San Diego (USD) School of Law is proud to announce USD Law Board of Visitors member Denise Hickey ’94 (JD), as the newest co-chair of the Fundraising Campaign Committee.
Hickey’s extensive experience in intellectual property (IP) law, pharmaceutical development, and scientific research position her well to help lead the committee currently focused on raising support for improved law school facilities and an Innovation Hub that will include the School of Law, the Pardee Legal Research Center, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, and USD’s new STEM facility due to open in 2027.
Before retiring in 2025, Hickey was vice president and assistant general counsel of Innovation Law at Bristol Myers Squibb, where she managed IP teams and provided legal strategy, advice, and support for clinical, regulatory, and commercial activities connected to a wide range of advanced medicines. She also represented the company in various industry organizations and on internal government affairs teams focused on developing consistent IP policies worldwide. Earlier in her career, Hickey held IP leadership roles at several life sciences companies, including Celgene, AbbVie, Biogen Idec, Quidel, and Collateral Therapeutics. Across these positions, she advised on IP strategy, portfolio management, business development, and licensing.
Her degree in genetics from UC Davis and her work as a scientist at Genentech and a laboratory technician at the Scripps Research Institute position her well to connect the School of Law to cutting edge technological expertise.
A longtime USD Law advocate and cum laude graduate, Hickey joined the Board of Visitors in 2009 and has contributed to the board’s Steering Committee, the Dean’s Advisory Committee on External Affairs, and the Law Alumni Board, where she served as president from 2006 to 2007.
Together with Karen Hewitt ’89 (JD), regional partner-in-charge of California at Jones Day, and Dennis Doucette ’86 (JD), managing partner at Procopio, Hickey will help guide the campaign’s efforts to strengthen USD Law’s facilities, foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and prepare future lawyers for an evolving profession.
About the School of Law
Each year, USD Law educates approximately 800 Juris Doctor and graduate law students from throughout the United States and around the world. The law school is best known for its offerings in the areas of business and corporate law, constitutional law, intellectual property, international and comparative law, public interest law and taxation.
USD School of Law is one of the 88 law schools elected to the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for law school graduates. The law school’s faculty is a strong group of outstanding scholars and teachers with national and international reputations and currently ranks 34th nationally among U.S. law faculties in scholarly impact and 35th nationally in past-year faculty downloads on the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN). 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, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949.