Press Release
Contact:
Jim Greif
[email protected]
(202) 296-1593
New Orleans (January 4, 2019) – Vicki C. Jackson, Thurgood Marshall Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School, was inducted as president of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) after delivering her inaugural address at a meeting of the AALS House of Representatives at the AALS Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
“For more than a century, the Association of American Law Schools has advanced excellence in legal education and I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve as its president,” said Professor Jackson. “Legal institutions, representation and elections, and institutions of higher learning all play critically important roles in our constitutional democracy, and all face significant new challenges. I look forward to working with our member schools to consider how legal education can best help prepare our students to meet those challenges, whether as advocates, counselors, legislators, or leaders in business, community, or government.”
Professor Jackson takes over from 2018 AALS President Wendy Collins Perdue, Dean, University of Richmond School of Law, who transitioned to Immediate Past President on the AALS Executive Committee.
The AALS House of Representatives also voted today to accept the nomination of Darby Dickerson, Dean, John Marshall Law School, to serve as 2019 President-Elect. The delegates also approved the nominations of D. Benjamin Barros, Dean, University of Toledo College of Law, and L. Song Richardson, Dean, University of California, Irvine School of Law, to serve three-year terms on the AALS Executive Committee.
“I’m honored to have been selected as President-Elect,” said Dean Dickerson. “I want to help ensure that the AALS continues to address the needs of law professors at all stages of their careers and continues to be a strong, positive voice for legal education.”
“Law and lawyers are essential to our society and our democracy, and our profession is rooted in legal education,” said Dean Barros. “I am honored to have this opportunity to serve the AALS and its member schools as we work to shape the future of legal education and the legal profession.”
“I’m honored to serve our membership during this critical juncture in legal education,” said Dean Richardson. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance the association’s important mission.”
About AALS
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), founded in 1900, is a nonprofit association of 179 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.
