After five years as dean of the University law school, Rennard Strickland is stepping down and longtime University law Professor Laird Kirkpatrick is stepping up.
Kirkpatrick will officially become the new dean Aug. 1 and has a lot of plans for the law school.
“I want to help the law school continue to move forward to the top tier of public law schools,” Kirkpatrick said.
To accomplish his goals, Kirkpatrick has several ideas.
“We need to continue our pattern of excellence in hiring new faculty. We need to publicize ourselves more and let the world know what outstanding faculty members and students we have. Finally, we need to do everything we can to increase private support to enhance our programs and offset the decline in state funding,” he said.
Strickland, who will continue to teach at the University, said there are many things about Kirkpatrick that make him right for the job.
“He is a distinguished graduate of this law school, a long-term faculty member, a major scholar, a highly regarded member of the Oregon legal community, as well as a caring and concerned individual,” Strickland said.
Strickland is confident that Kirkpatrick will bring needed and welcomed changes to the University. Strickland said change is always needed at the law school. “Education about the law must change to keep pace with the changes in society. Many of our students will be practicing law in the year 2050 and beyond.”
Kirkpatrick recently returned from Washington, D.C., after two years. He served as counsel to the head of the criminal division at the Department of Justice and a commissioner on the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Before he started teaching at the University, Kirkpatrick was an assistant U.S. attorney, executive director of Legal Aid Service in Portland and a trial attorney in Eugene.
The search for a new law school dean was not an easy one. Jane Gordon, the associate dean for student and program affairs and a member of the selection committee, said it was a very involved and detailed process.
Each finalist was interviewed for a two-to three-day period. Gordon said each person was presented to several groups, including law school faculty, law school students, the community, law school administration, alumni, as well as University students and faculty and administration. “[The candidates] were interviewed by every constituency out there,” Gordon said. “Kirkpatrick was unanimously regarded as a great choice.”
Gordon said she thinks one reason for his selection is his recent real world experience.
“It is great to bring in a practitioner who has been outside recently, someone who has served in the public,” she said.
Gordon said she believes the connections Kirkpatrick brings to the University are numerous after several years in public service and teaching off and on over the past 20 years at the University.
“He could walk into any law firm and know someone because of his years of teaching and service,” Gordon said.
Kirkpatrick originally didn’t plan to apply to be dean. “I supported a colleague who applied for the position. When he withdrew, “many faculty and alumni urged me to become a candidate,” he said. “I am deeply honored that I was ultimately selected.”