Page 14 University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law - Fall 2015 Issue RES GESTAE

For Spencer L. Kimball (U Law Dean, 1950–54), becoming a dean came about in an unconventional way. At 31, he was the youngest dean in the country. People took notice of him because of his impressive, near-perfect perfor-mance at U Law and as a Rhodes Scholar at Lincoln College in Oxford, England. In a 1948 letter, William Leary (U Law Dean, 1915–1950) wrote that Kimball offered the unusual qualifica-tion of being a “person who is not yet admitted to the bar, who has had no experience in practice, or administrative experience in conducting a law school.” Upon completing a Bachelor of Civil Law

Degree in Oxford in 1949, Kimball was offered and accepted a faculty position with the University of Utah College of Law. Along with this offer, Leary also suggested that Kimball consider accepting the deanship. After one year of teaching, and upon Leary’s recommendation, Kimball became dean of U Law.

One of the first faculty members Kimball recruited after being appointed dean was Sanford Kadish. The two had met and became friends during WWII while at-tending Japanese language school in Boulder, Colorado. They subsequently served together in the U.S. Navy as Japanese interpreters. Both went on to study law—Kimball at Utah and Kadish at Columbia. In 1950 Kimball came to Kadish with an offer to join U Law. At the time, Kadish was in private practice in New York. A year later, Kadish accepted the offer and came to Utah. During his career, Kadish became a well-known scholar and theorist in the field of criminal law, authoring a leading criminal law casebook, Criminal Law and Its Processes. After 10 years with U Law, Kadish went on to hold faculty positions at the law schools of the University of Michigan and then the University of California, Berkeley. It was there that he

was offered a deanship of his own, serving in that office from 1975 to 1982.

Another U Law faculty member who has served as a dean is Edward “Ned” Spurgeon (U Law faculty, 1980–83; U Law dean, 1983–90; University of Georgia dean, 1993–98). Karen McLeese, former Director of Development and Alumni Relations at the College of Law, who worked closely with Spurgeon, describes him as an ideal dean candidate. “He was a progres-sive thinker, he was all-inclusive, and he didn’t discriminate between faculty and staff—everyone was treated equally. He was also sensitive, atten-

History From Kimball to Johnson, Many College of Law Faculty Become Deansby Mary Ann Edwards

“You are more likely to become a dean if

your experience as a faculty member is an experience which is

pleasant.”

– Patricia White

RES GESTAE University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law - Fall 2015 Issue Page 15

tive, and a very hands-on administrator, with great respect for free expression from staff and faculty. He trusted people to do what was necessary for the betterment of the law school. He was a great mentor to me and we have enjoyed a lifelong friendship.”

The late Fred Anderson, a pioneer of en-vironmental law, “brought to Utah a sound knowledge of the economic and scien-tific dimensions of envi-ronmental law,” says Owen Olpin, longtime friend and colleague and himself a for-mer College of Law faculty member. “He was in truth an environmental econo-mist and scientist—part and parcel of being an environ-mental lawyer. That is, perhaps, at the core of his most telling contributions to environmental law.” Anderson served as a U Law faculty member from 1980 to 1985 and served as dean of the College of Law at American University of Washington from 1985 to 1988. Anderson is also known for being the first president of the Environmental Law Institute and the found-ing Chair of the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (IGSD).

The late Lee Teitelbaum joined the U Law faculty in 1986, ac-cepting the position of U Law dean in 1990 and then leaving in 1998 to become dean of Cornell University Law School. He returned to U Law as faculty in 2003. Professor Debora Threedy remembers him as a true gentleman who “lived by the precepts to treat everyone with politeness and respect.” Another former colleague, Patricia White (U Law faculty, 1994–98), says, “What I saw in Lee, which was so lovely and inspiring, was that he had such wonderful personal warmth and skills. He was the example of the dean who had a non-hierarchical, warm, personal caring relationship with all of his constituents. I had never seen that before in a law school dean and was very touched by it and have tried very hard to make it the way I treat everyone I work with and all of my students. I would really say that watching Lee do that was a wonderful example and really formative in my inter-

est in becoming a dean.” White was dean of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University from 1999 to 2008 before becoming University of Miami School of Law dean in 2009.

Other U Law faculty who have gone on to deanships include Donald Zillman, former director of U Law Energy Law Center, who became University of Maine School of Law dean (1991–98). Scott Matheson was a faculty member from 1985 until 1993, leaving to serve as a United States Attorney. He returned to U Law as its dean in 1998. Robert Adler, the current U Law dean, has been a U Law faculty member since 1994. Most recently, Christian Johnson (U Law faculty, 2008–2015) accepted a deanship this year at Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

So what is it about the College of Law environment that produces so many deans? It could have something to do with U Law’s “proud history and reputation as a law school,” Johnson theorizes. “It enjoys a level of respect that is unusual for a school of its size.” With programs and initiatives that have gained national attention, such as the Stegner Center and Pro Bono Initiative, it “gives people confidence in the leadership that Utah develops,” Johnson notes.

The decision to move from teaching to a demanding administrative role is not easy. The desire to effect change comes with the territory in a law career, so the decision to become a dean is perhaps made easier when you witness what good a dean can do. “By watching the deans I’ve worked with, I have found that it’s possible to influence an institution to be a better place,” says Johnson. “I hope to be as successful as deans [Hiram] Chodosh and Adler have been in gaining the confidence of faculty and staff and in being able to initiate the programs and projects that not only further the school’s repu-tation but also make it a stronger, more collegial institution.”

For White, her time at U Law influenced her decision to become a dean. “You are more likely to become a dean if your experience as a faculty member is an experience which is pleasant,” says White. She describes U Law as “a place that has not been subject to fractions and division, with a history and tradition of being a civil, civilized, and functional institution.”

Each path to deanship takes different turns, but U Law has been an important part of the journey for those of its faculty who have taken that step. A

v See more College of Law history at law.utah.edu/alumni