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Dean Daniel B. Rodriguez to Visit Northwestern Law on Wednesday

Over the past year, [former] Dean Van Zandt’s resignation as Dean of Northwestern Law School has sparked a lot of discussion regarding his achievements, his vision, and his plans for the future at The New School. And he probably deserves the attention. After all, he is the guy who not only transformed the world of law school programming, but also the one who came up with the modern JD-MBA program.  But today, new Dean Daniel Rodriguez is the one at Northwestern that’s starting to get most of the attention. And on Wednesday that attention will finally result in a visit here at Northwestern.

This Wednesday, new Northwestern Law Dean Daniel Rodriguez will finally be making an appearance at Northwestern Law.  The purpose of his visit is to address the student body in advance of becoming the full time Dean this winter.

The event is intended for the entire student body and faculty members takes place in just a few days on Wednesday, August 31, at 4 p.m. His visit will serve as a formal introduction to the Law School community where he will give a talk in Thorne Auditorium and then meet some of the students in the Atrium.

In advance of that, he recently sent a letter to the student body discussing Northwestern and his transition. See below for the letter.

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To:        The Northwestern Law Community

From:    Dan Rodriguez

Re:        A Note to the Northwestern Law Community

Colleagues:

It is with great enthusiasm, tempered with appropriate humility, that I have accepted the honor of becoming Northwestern University School of Law’s next dean, effective at the beginning of the spring semester.  Thanks are due to a great many members of this wonderful law school community, and I hope to be able to give these thanks in person over the course of the coming academic year.  More importantly, I hope to earn this trust with my hard work and good service over the course of my deanship.

I am very clear that this is a trust in every salient sense of the word.  Northwestern Law’s reputation as one of the nation’s top law schools reaches across many generations of lawyers and has been built methodically with the hard, passionate work of committed faculty and staff.  We will continue to work hard on behalf of our students and with the sense of purpose owed to our distinguished alumni who are truly a “who’s who” of the profession’s best and brightest.   I am a newcomer to this community to be sure, but one who has admired from afar what the Law School has accomplished, what it stands for, and I now recognize its potential for even greater excellence.  The celebrated Chicago architect, Daniel Burnham, advised famously to “make no little plans, for they have no magic to stir blood and probably themselves will not be realized.”  Yes, indeed this reflects my ambitions and objectives for Northwestern Law as I undertake this important post.

There will be other venues to speak more concretely about plans and policies, about opportunities and ideas, and about expectations and resources.  For now, let me share just a few thoughts by way of general framework.  First, I will work to the best of my ability, and with the integrity, honesty, and transparency befitting this leadership position to advance the Law School in all its extraordinary dimensions.  Second, the core goal around which planning and implementation will find its rightful place will be to serve the educational mission of the Law School — to provide a first-class legal education for Northwestern Law’s students and to forge opportunities for them to realize great professional success in their chosen endeavors.  And third, the Law School’s best aims will require a collaborative, inclusive process, with constant attention on my part and on the part of the Law School’s faculty and administration, to the good ideas that emerge from thoughtful, energetic members of our community working together.

Northwestern Law is rightly proud of its reputation for innovation, and David Van Zandt’s able leadership during the past 15 years has created a solid foundation on which to build.  Here we make big plans; we think outside the box; and we lead the way in developing initiatives suited to this rapidly changing profession.  Such innovation requires creativity, agility, and boldness enlightened through collective engagement in a common enterprise.  My deanship will be guided by this common enterprise and I look forward to joining with all of you in these collaborative pursuits.

A last introductory thought about the coming transition:  The Law School moves ever forward, and the fall semester will be, as always, a busy and dynamic time filled with vital energy and purpose.  We are all very fortunate to have Professor Kim Yuracko serving for another semester as Interim Dean and I know I speak for the entire community in both admiring and supporting her continuing, excellent work on behalf of the Law School.  As the dean-designate, I will spend quality time during the fall semester (and, in truth, quantity time) in learning about the Law School, engaging actively with Law School constituents, and reflecting on the challenges and opportunities ahead.  I will eagerly reach out to you in the coming weeks and I encourage you, likewise, to reach out to me.  In doing so, you can help me better understand your hopes and ambitions for the Law School and thereby shape the agenda of the school in the months and years to come.  Thanks, in advance, for all your input; and thanks for the very warm welcome you already have given me and my wife, Leslie Oster.

Northwestern Law has accomplished much in its long history as one of our most prestigious — and also interesting — law schools.  Yet, I am confident that its best days lie ahead.

Very best regards,

Dan Rodriguez