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Bobinski to complete term as Emory Law dean in 2024, return to faculty

Mary Anne Bobinski, dean of Emory University School of Law, has decided to return to a full-time faculty role in the summer of 2024 after completing a progress-filled five-year term as dean. Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Ravi V. Bellamkonda announced her decision today along with plans to launch a national search for a successor in the coming weeks.

"Dean Bobinski has led the Emory University School of Law with a deep understanding of the trends in the legal profession," said Emory President Gregory L. Fenves. "She has made forward-thinking decisions, recruiting a talented and diverse faculty while engaging alums across the country. I’m grateful that Emory will still benefit from her scholarly expertise as she returns to the faculty."

Since becoming dean of Emory Law in August 2019, Bobinski has executed a strategic plan focused on enhancing student opportunities and outcomes, building the strength of the faculty, enriching the staff experience, and increasing alumni engagement – work which she and the law school team will continue to drive forward.  

"I have been honored to lead the Emory Law community through a period of transformation and growth, and my colleagues and I look forward to advancing our plans to support students, attract outstanding new faculty, and enhance the law school's national standing and impact over the coming year while preparing for a leadership transition," said Bobinski. "I am grateful for the strong support of President Fenves and Provost Bellamkonda and the active engagement of our alumni, friends, and donors. Emory Law is truly a special community, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with and be inspired by my faculty colleagues, staff members, students, and alumni every day." 

A national search for a new dean to take the helm when Bobinski returns to the Emory Law faculty will commence this spring following consultation with stakeholders, said Bellamkonda.

"Mary Anne Bobinski is a dedicated and thoughtful leader whose efforts continue to advance Emory Law as one of the nation’s foremost institutions for legal education, scholarship and thought," Bellamkonda said. "Her wry sense of humor, her dedication to our law school, and collaborative nature have made her a valued partner and colleague. I'm grateful to Dean Bobinski for her ongoing leadership and for announcing her decision this year, which allows ample time for us to appoint a new dean to build upon her work and ensure seamless progress toward Emory Law’s ambitious goals."

A tenure of progress

Under Bobinski's leadership, Emory Law has ushered in a new generation of faculty who will shape the school and its students for decades to come. The dozen new faculty hired to date include both senior-level recruits from other leading law schools and entry-level scholars with advanced degrees, prestigious clerkships, and practice experience offering expertise in areas ranging from corporate law and tax to health law and civil rights and social justice.

With university support, the law school is also building a nation-leading cohort of faculty members who combine traditional legal subject area expertise with a focus on the legal aspects of artificial intelligence technologies as a part of Emory’s groundbreaking AI.Humanity initiative.

Bobinski has also overseen the introduction of innovative academic offerings, including new JD curricular concentrations in health law, civil litigation and dispute resolution, criminal litigation, and law and religion. These programs build on the law school's well-known certificate programs in transactional law and the TI:GER® program, which focuses on law and innovation. Emory Law also enhanced its Juris Master (JM) program designed for non-lawyer professionals, by focusing on online delivery and adding new concentrations in business law and regulation; data, privacy, and technology law; employment law and human resources; and health care law, policy, and regulation. 

Emory Law is attracting an increasingly diverse and academically credentialed student body, recently welcoming an incoming class with the highest median LSAT in school history. In addition, student outcomes reflect significant increases in bar passage rates and career success, with employment levels reaching ten-year highs last year.

Emory Law has also enjoyed increased alumni involvement in its programs and activities, as well as record-breaking philanthropic support. The school recently recorded its most successful fundraising year to date and its largest single gift from a donor, which established the new Center for Civil Rights and Social Justice.

Bobinski's focus on community-building at Emory Law is also reflected in the establishment of the PULSE Committee in 2022. Dedicated to improving the staff experience, the committee has successfully led numerous community-building events over the past year, engaging staff members in ways they have indicated are most meaningful to them. 

In addition to Emory Law's many achievements under her watch, Bobinski is the first woman to hold the law school deanship since the school’s founding in 1916. Prior to joining Emory, Bobinski was a professor at the Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia, Canada, where she also served as dean from 2003 to 2015. Bobinski received her LLM from Harvard Law School and holds a JD and a BA in psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo, both received summa cum laude. Her research and teaching interests include comparative health law, health care finance and bioethics.

This story first appeared at news.emory.edu.


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