To Make a Difference: Dean as Producer

Abstract:     
As I look at my fifth year as Dean of Hamline University School of Law, I am often struck by the dissonance between my professional life, as a lawyer and law professor, and my administrative life, as a dean within a small university. In both roles, I remain driven to make a difference for the individuals I serve and the broader community in which we live. But these roles have never sat comfortably, one with the other. I am a product of my unique practice and academic experience. An entertainment lawyer by disposition, my field includes a broad array of intellectual property law and the arts or business organizations which exploit these rights. Perhaps blinded by my professional background, I believe that to make a difference, we must learn from these fields to make a difference for our schools, students, institutions, and communities. As I prepare for my last year as Dean of Hamline, this essay allows me the opportunity to reflect on how to make that difference for both our students and our institutions.

Keywords: Legal Education, ABA, U.S. News, Globalization, legal scholarship

JEL Classifications: K10, K20, L30

Working Paper Series