News Release
Contact:
Jim Greif
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Austen Parrish, Dean of University of California, Irvine School of Law to serve as President-elect; John Valery White, Professor at University of Nevada, Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law and Risa Goluboff, Dean of University of Virginia School of Law to serve on the AALS Executive Committee
Washington, DC (January 6, 2024) – Melanie D. Wilson, Dean and Roy L. Steinheimer, Jr., Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law, was inducted as President of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) after delivering her inaugural address at the AALS Annual Meeting.
“I believe deeply in the mission of the Association—advancing excellence in legal education. I am honored to work collaboratively with the members of the Executive Committee and AALS staff in furtherance of this important work,” said Wilson. “My theme for the year—Courage in Action—reflects my view that we will continue to accomplish ambitious goals in the legal academe, provided we pursue our aims tenaciously and bravely with an open mind.”
Wilson takes over from 2023 AALS President Mark Alexander, Dean of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law who transitioned to Immediate Past President on the AALS Executive Committee.
The AALS House of Representatives voted in advance of the AALS Annual Meeting to accept the nomination of Austen L. Parrish, Dean and Chancellor’s Professor of Law at of the University of California, Irvine School of Law to serve as 2024 President-elect. The representatives also approved the nominations of Risa Goluboff, Dean and Arnold H. Leon Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, and John Valery White, Ralph Denton Professor of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law to serve three-year terms on the AALS Executive Committee.
“The Association of American Law Schools is such an important organization for legal education and the nation’s law schools,” said Parrish. “Serving as president-elect is a tremendous honor. I am looking forward to working with Dean Wilson, who has great plans for her presidency, and I am thrilled to join Risa Goluboff and John Valery White – two national leaders I’ve long admired – on the Executive Committee.”
“AALS plays a critical role in advocating for law schools, faculty members, students, and the legal profession as a whole,” said Goluboff. “I’m honored and excited to join the Executive Committee and help pursue this important mission.”
“This is a challenging time for law schools and higher education more generally, making the AALS all the more important in supporting law schools, their faculty, and their leadership,” said White. “I am delighted to be able to play a small part in helping legal education continue to thrive during these complicated times.”
About AALS
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), founded in 1900, is a nonprofit association of 176 member and 18 fee-paid law schools. Its members enroll most of the nation’s law students and produce the majority of the country’s lawyers and judges, as well as many of its lawmakers. The mission of AALS is to uphold and advance excellence in legal education. In support of this mission, AALS promotes the core values of excellence in teaching and scholarship, academic freedom, and diversity, including diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints, while seeking to improve the legal profession, to foster justice, and to serve its many communities—local, national and international.
