Nancy Staudt, dean of the School of Law and the Howard & Caroline Cayne Distinguished Professor of Law at Washington University in St. Louis, will conclude her deanship and leave the university Oct. 1.
She has accepted a position as the Frank and Marcia Carlucci Dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School and vice president for innovation at RAND, a California-based research and public policy organization.
Staudt was appointed dean on May 15, 2014, when she returned to the School of Law after having served as a faculty member from 2000-06.
“In the past seven years under Nancy Staudt’s leadership, the Washington University School of Law has flourished,” Chancellor Andrew D. Martin said. “We have seen growth by nearly every measure and the school continues to thrive. Nancy’s commitment to excellence is unmatched and she leaves the deanship with a remarkable legacy of success. I am thankful for her many contributions.”
During Staudt’s tenure, the School of Law has become a top law school, now ranked No. 16 according to U.S. News & World Report. Staudt has successfully advanced the law school’s teaching, research and community service missions through her work with faculty, students and cross-disciplinary initiatives.
She also led a successful capital campaign, which raised funds necessary to expand the scope of the law school’s clinical education program, enhance the number of faculty members with named professorships, and increase scholarships for students by millions of dollars.
“We have been fortunate to have a talented leader and scholar like Nancy Staudt guiding our School of Law for the past seven years,” said Provost Beverly Wendland. “During her tenure as dean, she has moved the school forward in numerous ways, improving its academic reputation and increasing scholarships to ensure that the nation’s best law students are able to come to WashU Law for a world-class educational experience. I will miss her grace, warm personality and perennially positive spirit. I wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”
“I will always cherish and fondly remember my years as dean at WashULaw,” Staudt said. “Together we have grown, learned and thrived. And with such an incredibly wonderful community and the most amazing faculty, staff, students and alumni in the world, I know the next dean will be fantastic. I am proud to have been a part of the law school, which is one of the best places to study and research in the world.”
Staudt is a nationally renowned scholar in tax, tax policy and empirical legal studies. Prior to her return to Washington University, she served as vice dean and the inaugural holder of the Edward G. Lewis Chair in Law and Public Policy at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law.
She is the author or co-author of nearly 40 articles and three books. Her work has been published in the country’s leading journals and university presses, and she has given hundreds of speeches and keynote addresses to national and international audiences on a range of tax, law and public policy topics.
Staudt also has advanced the university’s goals and aims through her service on a number of universitywide committees. She has served as: chair of a universitywide task force charged with heightening the university’s commitment to diversity and inclusion; chair of the search committee charged with identifying a dean for the top-ranked Brown School; member of the chancellor search committee; and member of the universitywide COVID-19 planning executive committee.
Staudt earned a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University, a law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School, and a doctorate in public policy from the University of Chicago.
Prior to joining the USC faculty in 2011, Staudt was the Class of 1940 Research Professor of Law at Northwestern University. In addition to her time as law professor at Washington University, Staudt was on the faculty at the University of Buffalo School of Law.
She has held visiting professorships at Vanderbilt University, Boston University and the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel; she has been a visiting scholar at Stanford University.
An international search will be conducted for Staudt’s successor.
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