Press Release
Contact:
Jim Greif
[email protected]
(202) 296-1593
Washington, D.C. (January 8, 2022) – Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of University of California, Berkeley School of Law, was inducted as President of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) after delivering his inaugural address at the AALS Annual Meeting.
“I am truly honored to become the President of the Association of American Law Schools,” said Dean Chemerinsky. “I am very excited about the year ahead and have chosen the theme, ‘How Law Schools Can Make a Difference’ for 2022 and the 2023 AALS Annual Meeting. Our society and the world face enormously difficult problems: threats to democracy and the rise of authoritarianism, climate change, great wealth disparities, and racial inequalities. Law schools can and must play an active role in finding solutions.”
Dean Chemerinsky takes over from 2021 AALS President Vincent D. Rougeau, Professor at Boston College Law School and President of College of the Holy Cross who transitioned to Immediate Past President on the AALS Executive Committee.
The AALS House of Representatives voted in advance to accept the nomination of Mark C. Alexander, Dean of Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law to serve as President-elect. The representatives also approved the nominations of Kevin Washburn, Dean of the University of Iowa College of Law and Eloisa Rodriguez-Dod, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at Florida International University College of Law, to serve three-year terms on the AALS Executive Committee.
“Being chosen as the President-elect by my peers is one of the greatest honors of my career,” said Dean Alexander. “I am looking forward to supporting Dean Chemerinsky this year and learning from him. Choosing to be a lawyer is to choose a path of service and I look forward to serving the legal education community and my fellow deans.”
“Each of us wants to make a difference in the world and we can do so much more as part of a vibrant AALS community than as individuals,” said Dean Washburn. “It will be an honor to serve with Dean Chemerinsky, Dean Alexander, other Executive Committee members, and law faculty colleagues nationwide in working to ensure that the AALS continues to serve those who seek to make a difference during challenging times.”
“It is an honor and a privilege to join the AALS Executive Committee,” said Associate Dean Rodriguez-Dod. “I look forward to working with such dedicated and visionary leaders, who play a pivotal role in ensuring that the AALS furthers its mission of advancing excellence in legal education and its core values that underlie the legal academy and the legal profession.”
About AALS
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), founded in 1900, is a nonprofit association of 176 member and 19 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.
