Campus & community, People, Milestones, Campus news

Irvine's Erwin Chemerinsky will be the new Berkeley Law dean

By Public Affairs

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Carol Christ, interim executive vice chancellor and provost and chancellor-designate at UC Berkeley, made this announcement today:

Dear campus community,

I am very pleased to announce that Erwin Chemerinsky, current and founding dean
of the UC Irvine School of Law, has been appointed to be the next dean of the UC
Berkeley School of Law. He will begin his five-year term on July 1.

Edwin Chemerinsky

Edwin Chemerinsky (UC Irvine School of Law photo)

As a professor and legal scholar, Dean Chemerinsky prizes public service and
embodies the role of a public intellectual. He is the author of 10 books and more
than 200 law review articles, a weekly column for the Orange County Register ,
monthly columns for the ABA Journal and the Daily Journal , and regular op-eds in
newspapers across the country. He frequently argues appellate cases, including in
the United States Supreme Court. Dean Chemerinsky’s support for public service at
UCI Law has placed the institution among the very top law schools in terms of
the number of federal clerkships, graduates in government and public interest jobs and
community service contribution. In January 2017, National Jurist magazine named
him the most influential person in legal education in the United States.

Dean Chemerinsky graduated from Northwestern University in 1975, and received
his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1978. Prior to assuming his deanship at
Irvine, he was a professor at Duke Law School and the University of Southern
California Law School.

Dean Chemerinsky’s appointment comes at the end of a thorough search process,
and I would like to extend my thanks to search committee chair Henry Brady, the
entire search committee and everyone in the extended Berkeley Law community
who provided feedback on the next dean. I would like to also extend particular
thanks to Berkeley Law Interim Dean Melissa Murray, who took the reins at a
difficult time and has provided steadfast leadership over the course of the past year.

Dean Chemerinsky is an acclaimed researcher, gifted teacher, and accomplished
administrator, and I believe he will be a phenomenal leader for our law school,
someone who will ensure that Berkeley Law remains not only a powerhouse of legal
scholarship and training, but also a community built on mutual respect and
inclusion.

Please join me in welcoming Erwin Chemerinsky to our campus.

Sincerely,

Carol Christ
Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost
Chancellor-designate

Read more on the Berkeley Law website