High-Profile Hires at U. of California at Irvine's Law School; Indiana State U. Picks a New President

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By KATHERINE MANGAN and ALLIE GRASGREEN

A FRESH START: The brouhaha over the hiring, firing, and rehiring of the inaugural law dean at the University of California at Irvine doesn't appear to have hurt recruiting. The law school announced this month that it has hired a group of nationally known scholars and administrators, including the incoming president of the Association of American Law Schools, to help get the new school going.

Last year, the university's chancellor, Michael V. Drake, flip-flopped on hiring Erwin Chemerinsky as inaugural dean. Mr. Chemerinsky said he was told that he was too politically controversial, apparently because of liberal positions he espoused in newspaper commentaries and high-profile legal cases.

Critics of the chancellor's short-lived decision to rescind the job offer speculated that potential faculty recruits might worry about academic freedom and interference from conservative political and business leaders.

"It proved to be no problem at all in recruiting," Mr. Chemerinsky said in an interview last week. A few people did ask "to be blunt, is there any chance you could be fired again?" Mr. Chemerinsky said.

"I told them that Michael Drake has been wonderful and unflagging in his support of the law school," he said. "In some cases, the chancellor called faculty to make it clear that the events of the last fall are behind us."

Many of the seven men and 12 women in the inaugural lineup of faculty members and senior administrators have worked for top-tier law schools.

The first law class, which will begin in the fall of 2009, is expected to have around 60 students.

The initial hires, who will arrive over the next two years, include Rachel F. Moran, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley and president-elect of the Association of American Law Schools. Ms. Moran is an expert in education and law, diversity, civil rights, and equality.

Other recruits include Carrie Menkel-Meadow, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center with expertise in dispute resolution; Trina Jones, a professor of law at Duke University who specializes in discrimination law and civil procedure, and Dan L. Burk, a former law professor at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities now in private practice who is an intellectual-property-law expert specializing in cyberlaw and biotechnology.

The new assistant dean of administration and finance is Rebecca Ávila, who held a similar position at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication.

Rex Bossert, former editor in chief of The National Law Journal, will be director of communications and public affairs.

"When I saw the slate of people who were coming I thought, this is a lot of talent in one place," Ms. Moran said.

She said she is looking forward to juggling a national leadership position with the law-school association and a role in building a new school at a time when law schools nationwide are undergoing intense scrutiny and change. The changes have been spurred by a series of reports that found that legal education is out of touch with the practice of law.

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WESTWARD HO: Daniel J. Bradley, who for the past seven years as president of Fairmont State University led the campus through immense growth, will depart to head Indiana State University.

Mr. Bradley's tenure at Fairmont State, in West Virginia, saw $100-million in campus construction, a 10-percent enrollment increase, and the institution's evolution from college to university status. Indiana State is a good match for him, he said, because its location, size, and broad mix of programs are similar to Fairmont State's. "They fit well with my background," he said.

Mr. Bradley will succeed Lloyd W. Benjamin III, who resigned after he received a no-confidence vote from the faculty. Mr. Benjamin had accepted a $25,000 raise while faculty salaries were frozen and the university was trying to cut $4-million from its budget.

During his first year at Indiana State, which officially begins July 31, Mr. Bradley will draw up a comprehensive strategic plan for the university, "and if we're lucky actually make some progress toward implementation." Mr. Bradley will also focus on increasing enrollment, raising money, and developing programs.

Michael Alley, president of Indiana State's Board of Trustees, said the board selected Mr. Bradley because of his presidential expertise, fund-raising ability, and strategic-planning experience.

Mr. Alley said he is confident the new president will adjust easily to his new job because he has already visited the campus several times to meet with faculty and staff members. "The campus was ready for some new leadership, and I think the collaborative, communicative style that Dr. Bradley brings is really what the campus needs and is looking for," Mr. Alley said.