Campus Connection

Media Credit: www.umaryland.edu

In a recent UMB press release, Karen H. Rothenberg, JD, Dean of the University of Maryland, School of Law has announced that she will step down from her position on June 30, 2009. Rothenberg, the first woman to serve as Dean of the Law School, has led the school for nearly ten years. She plans to return to the faculty after taking a sabbatical.

Rothenberg's major accomplishments during her tenure as Dean include establishing new centers and programs in business law, intellectual property law, international law, and women's leadership; recruiting some of the best lawyers in the area as faculty of the school; building partnerships with academic institutions, government organizations, and the judiciary in various countries such as South Africa, Chile, England, Germany, Australia, China, and Costa Rica. She was instrumental in broadening the scope of clinical and public service programs by developing partnerships with many organizations in Baltimore and outside, so much so that law school faculty and students now provide more than 110,000 hours of free legal services annually to Maryland residents. She also founded the Law & Health Care Program, ranked among the top three in the country by U.S.News & World Report, to expand the role played by the law school in promoting a just legal system.

The press release quotes Rothenberg as saying, "I am so grateful to the community of people-faculty, administrators, staff, and our graduates and friends who have all helped to make this such a wonderful law school. I love this place and the people that make it so great. I am very proud of all we have accomplished together and the community we have created that will sustain our work into the future."

In a message to the UMB community, President Ramsay said, "Karen Rothenberg is stepping down from the deanship of the law school at a time when its national reputation for excellence has never been stronger. Her enthusiasm for the school is legendary and highly contagious. Her shoes will not be easy to fill."

Dean Rothenberg has had an illustrious career. She was among the first class of women to graduate from Princeton University, where she received both her BA and MPA and was an Order of the Coif graduate from the University of Virginia, School of Law. In 1983, she was recruited to the University of Maryland School of Law as one of few women on faculty. Rothenberg is the recipient of the prestigious Equal Justice Works' Dean John R. Kramer Award in recognition of her dedication to nurturing an outstanding spirit of public service at the School of Law. In addition, the Maryland Commission on Women has inducted her into the Women's Hall of Fame.

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