Erwin Chemerinsky, a nationally renowned professor of constitutional law and federal civil procedure at Duke University, was named founding dean of UC Irvine’s law school, effective July 1, 2008. As dean, Chemerinsky will be responsible for the school’s academic and administrative leadership, including developing and implementing a scholarly and educational vision that will take the school from start-up to top-tier status; managing the school’s budget; and cultivating a broad base of private and corporate support for a new building and a law library.
Chemerinsky has been the Alston & Bird Professor of Law and professor of political science at Duke University since 2004. Previously he was the Sydney M. Irmas Professor of Public Interest Law, Legal Ethics & Political Science at the University of Southern California Law School for 21 years, and director of the university’s Center for Communications Law & Policy from 2000 to 2004. He also served as a professor at DePaul College of Law from 1980 to 1983, and practiced law as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and at Dobrovir, Oakes & Gebhart in Washington, D.C.
Chemerinsky is the author of four books: Federal Jurisdiction (2007), Constitutional Law: Principles and Policies (2006), Constitutional Law (2005), and Interpreting the Constitution (1987). He is the author of more than 100 articles that have appeared in journals such as the Harvard Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Northwestern Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Stanford Law Review and Yale Law Journal. He regularly writes on the Supreme Court for California Lawyer, Los Angeles Daily Journal and Trial Magazine, and regularly serves as a commentator on legal issues for national and local media. In 2005, he was named by Legal Affairs as one of the “top 20 legal thinkers in America” and the Daily Journal named him one of the most influential lawyers in California annually from 1998 to 2003.
He is a recipient of the 2003 President’s Award from the Criminal Courts Bar Association, the 2003 Freedom of Information Award from the Society for Professional Journalists, the 2002 Community Service Award from the Western Center on Law & Poverty, the 2001 Community Service Award from the Anti-Defamation League and the 2001 Clarence Darrow Award from the People’s College of Law, to name just a few. He frequently argues appellate cases, including in the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeals, and has testified frequently before congressional and state legislative committees. He received his bachelor’s from Northwestern University and J.D. from Harvard Law School.
