The university has launched a search for an inspiring and innovative leader to serve as Dean of the School of Law.

The new dean will be responsible for providing academic, strategic and administrative leadership for the school in the context of a diverse and vibrant urban-serving public research university. The dean also will be tasked with articulating a vision for 21st-century legal education and for enhancing the school’s already strong relationships with its alumni and the legal, business, non-profit and government communities. 

“Our goal is to hire an inspirational leader for the Law School who can maintain the high standards in place, recruit and retain a diverse group of students and faculty, and set a bold vision for student and faculty success in alignment with our University Strategic plan,” said Jenny Lundgren, provost and executive vice chancellor.  

 The new dean will be building on a legacy of excellence at the School of Law, including: 

• An academic program with national rankings for bar passage, employment rates, practical skills training, trial advocacy, legal writing, family law and more. The entrepreneurial and scholarly faculty  
• Entrepreneurial and scholarly faculty, whose innovative interdisciplinary courses and research stay at the cutting edge of the law. 
• Community connections and service, with ten clinics, dozens of field placements, and hundreds of community partners.

“Please join me in expressing our sincere appreciation to Dean Barbara Glesner Fines for providing superb leadership for our School of Law during her tenure as dean,” Lundgren said.

Dean Glesner Fines will continue to lead the School of Law as Dean until her successor is appointed, when she will return to the full-time faculty.

The search committee is chaired by Bruce Bubacz, Curators’ Teaching Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science and Philosophy in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor in the School of Law. The full roster of the search committee is listed below. Others will have the opportunity to provide input during the campus interview portion of the search process. The committee aims to conclude the search in the spring semester for a summer 2023 leadership transition. 

Full search committee  

• Bruce Bubacz, Curators’ Teaching Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Political Science and Philosophy in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor in the School of Law
• Ashley Swanson-Hoye, Director of Law Student Services
• Chadayne Clive Lloyd Antonio Walker, Law Student and Student Bar Association President
• Timothy Lynch, Professor of Law
• Allen Rostron, Associate Dean of Students, William R. Jacques Constitutional Law Scholar and Professor of Law 
• Mikah Thompson, Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Professor of Law 
• Jasmine Abdel-khalik, Professor of Law 
• Randall Johnson, Professor of Law 
• Ayyoub Ajmi, Associate Director of the Leon E. Bloch Law Library 
• Lisa Weixelman, Senior Partner, Polsinelli; UMKC Trustee 
• Honorable Ann Mesle, UMKC Law alumna and retired Judge, 16th Judicial Circuit Court of Jackson County (retired)
• Danielle Merrick, Clinical Professor and Director of the Entrepreneurial Legal Services Clinic
• Marie Dispenza, Director of Major Gifts, School of Law and Executive Director, UMKC Law Foundation