Howe honored at law school reception

Colleagues, friends and students of Law School Interim Dean Scott Howe gathered at a lighthearted reception Thursday afternoon to thank the criminal law professor for his service as interim dean.

Noting that he often saw Howe jogging and looking “so relaxed” prior to taking the post, Daniel Bogart, professor, associate dean for administration and the Donley and Marjorie Bollinger Chair in Real Estate Law, told the crowd that Howe’s “decision to become an interim dean was an act of tremendous generosity.”

Howe took the helm at the law school last year while a search committee sought a new dean to fill the post left open by former dean John Eastman, who stepped down to run for California attorney general. While noting that an announcement regarding the new dean was expected soon, the focus of Thursday’s gathering was Howe’s leadership and accomplishments at the school in the year it moved into the
U.S. News and World Report
prestigious Top 100 list of ABA law schools.

Chancellor Daniele Struppa said Howe masterfully juggled the multiple demands of the job “at a very important transition period in the history of the law school.”

“His work has been very complex, diplomatic work to move us to the next stage. I think we are in a position with the school that is quite fantastic, and I think there is a sense of excitement that is palpable not just in the school but in the community around us. And I think a great portion of that really has to do with Scott’s work,” said Chancellor Struppa.

In written remarks sent by Dean Emeritus Parham Williams and read on his behalf by Jayne Kacer, assistant dean of student and alumni affairs, Williams said Howe was nearly unmatched as a law dean.

“How many law school deans have been at the helm of their school when it ascended to the U.S. News ranking of the top 100 law schools? And how man deans can boast of being named law professor of the year multiple times and at two different law schools? And how many law deans can blow away the crowd at the annual Barristers Ball with his impressive blues chops on his 1952 Les Paul guitar? I rest my case, Scott,” Williams wrote.

After being presented with gifts – including a gift card to his favorite “guilty pleasure,” In-N-Out Burger – and the unveiling of his portrait in Kennedy Law, Howe expressed his thanks and hinted at what everyone in the room was looking forward to hearing announced soon.

“The greatest reward in all this is that we will have a tremendous new dean coming on very, very soon,” Howe said.