University of Idaho
Dean, College of Law
The University of Idaho (U of I) seeks an innovative, collaborative, and visionary leader with a record of significant impact to serve as the next dean of the College of Law (COL). The dean will effectively promote and foster academic excellence, manage enrollment, enhance research and scholarship, participate in strategic planning, engage with key constituencies and stakeholders, expand sources of revenue and philanthropy, and work with the University and other colleges on interdisciplinary and innovative collaboration.
As the only law school in Idaho, the COL is committed to its students and to providing legal education that prepares them for meaningful, impactful careers. That commitment is reflected in (1) a rigorous program of legal education grounded in excellence; (2) engagement in education and service for the public, the practicing bar, government, and the judiciary, with a dedication to delivering high-impact public service and commitment to our land grant mission; and (3) scholarly innovation with meaningful impact locally, regionally, and nationally. For more than 110 years, the College of Law has built on a strong foundation of excellence, public service, and the education of leaders, fostering a legal community grounded in professionalism and access to legal services.
With two campuses approximately 350 miles apart—Moscow and Boise—the COL is uniquely positioned to play a key role contributing to legal education and the legal profession to shape the future through innovative thinking, community engagement, and transformative education. The Moscow campus offers students a vibrant, interdisciplinary academic experience through collaboration with the University of Idaho’s main campus, while the Boise campus offers an urban legal education in Idaho’s population and governmental center, with direct access to state government, the judiciary, and the practicing bar. Guided by a shared commitment to excellence and by our land grant mission, the College of Law fosters a dynamic learning environment grounded in professionalism and strengthened by the talent and energy of its community.
Reporting to the Provost, the dean will play a key role in shaping the COL future. With a clear and compelling vision and a commitment to lead with respect, collaborative spirit, trust, and the highest ethical standards, the dean will continue to position the COL at the forefront of legal education, empowering its graduates to become leaders and agents of positive change in the profession and in society.
Founded in 1889, University of Idaho is Idaho’s land-grant university providing high quality and accessible education while playing an important role in the state’s economic prosperity by forging partnerships to improve the lives of Idahoans.
Leadership Opportunities and Expectations for the New Dean
Develop a Vision for College of Law
The new dean will lead the overall direction of the college and elevate its visibility and reputation in Idaho, regionally, and nationally. The university and the COL are both in the midst of ongoing strategic planning processes. The new dean will collaboratively build upon these strategic efforts and create and implement a new vision for the COL that is rooted in its core principles of public service, excellence in education, and commitment to students.
Build a Stronger College of Law Community
Recognizing the importance of cohesiveness between the two COL campuses and with the university, the dean will lead as a visionary and innovative collaborator with exceptional interpersonal skills. Embracing the opportunities created by the two campuses, the dean will continue to build and foster a sense of connectivity and a collegial team culture for faculty and staff. The dean will offer strategies to recruit and retain the best faculty, staff, and students and link community members in person and virtually in Moscow, Boise, and beyond. The dean will use strong management experience to evaluate the COL’s administrative, curricular, student service, and resource needs, as well as its enrollment, faculty, and program growth. The dean will champion and manage change with well thought-out plans.
Embrace Innovation in Student-Focused Legal Education
The dean will inspire, challenge, and propel the COL community forward through the changing landscape of legal education, attentive to emerging trends in legal and related practices. The dean will foster an academic environment in which the law school adapts its programming to provide innovative and experiential education that responds to societal needs, new market climates, and innovations in law while serving the needs of Idaho, such as rural initiatives and Native American Law. The new dean will further enhance student learning experience and success by improving how programs are developed and delivered virtually across the two campuses to ensure students can have optimal learning opportunities irrespective of in-person or virtual mode of learning. The dean will be strategic and innovative in balancing the programmatic offerings and related administrative and support services offered in Moscow and Boise to promote excellent student experiences on both campuses.
Grow Engagement with Alumni and External Constituents
The dean will strengthen and expand relationships with the COL’s richly varied network of alumni and stakeholders. Since many alumni and stakeholders are in key positions in law firms, legislatures, courts, and governmental agencies as well as serving as adjunct faculty at COL, the dean will have the opportunity to build relationships with external constituents and elevate the important role that the COL plays in the state. Philanthropy is critical for the support of scholarships, programs, clinics, operational needs, and building a larger endowment for the COL. The dean will leverage the success and momentum of a recently closed capital campaign to launch funding initiatives in a new campaign.
Elevate College of Law’s Reputation and Visibility
The dean will enhance and expand the COL’s reputation and visibility within Idaho, regionally, and across the country. The dean will embrace the role of advocate for the COL to spotlight its reputation as a distinctive law school that prepares students for successful legal careers while emphasizing practical skills and a commitment to making a positive impact on society. The dean will continue to lead the COL in improvement in bar passage and post-graduate employment.
POSITION SUMMARY
Overview of Position
The dean has responsibility to oversee and implement policies and priorities of the college and university. The Dean for the College of Law leads the college faculty in the development of policies and priorities governing the academic programs of the college. The dean facilitates the appropriate inclusion of faculty, staff, students, and stakeholders in the college decision-making processes. The academic programs of the college are directly affected by program planning, definitions of goals and priorities, instructional methods and standards, student advising, mutually beneficial partnerships with stakeholders, research policies, allocation of resources, fund-raising, and the development of professional standards related to the branches of learning for which the college is responsible. The academic programs of the college include graduate/professional instruction and research activity. It is expected that the dean satisfactorily employs strategies to implement objectives and achieve the strategic goals while carrying out the mission of the college.
The dean can be based in Moscow on the University of Idaho’s main campus, in the nexus of the President, Provost, Deans, and the other academic leaders, and travel to and from the Boise campus. However, the U of I is equally open to consideration of the new dean being based in Boise, with travel to and from the Moscow campus, while being a visible, accessible, and an integral part of the University’s leadership team.
QUALIFICATIONS
Required Qualifications
- An earned terminal degree from an accredited law school.
- Accomplishments and experience to merit an appointment with tenure and rank of full professor at COL, or truly exemplary accomplishments in the legal field otherwise commensurate with the dean’s role and responsibilities.
- Leadership experience including personnel management, resource management (finances, facilities, equipment, etc.), and quality programming / delivery.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience leading original initiatives focused on improving excellence in teaching, research, outreach, mentoring, and/or student success.
- Experience with strategic planning and visioning to successfully address change, managing program/professional-level accreditation and program assessment, increasing student enrollment, and attracting and retaining a robust student and employee population.
- Interpersonal and communication skills to develop, maintain, and work successfully with faculty, staff, department administrators, peer colleagues, students, alumni, and other stakeholders.
- Experience developing and advancing philanthropic opportunities, economic development, extramurally funded research, or other fundraising efforts.
- Experience teaching and/or serving students, especially in a legal academic environment.
- A record of engagement with important legal issues or questions, whether through academic scholarship, engagement in public discourse, or other forms of meaningful advocacy, as well as a commitment to the value of research and academic freedom.
- Experience executing the mission of a land-grant university.
ABOUT THE COLLEGE
Established in 1909, the University of Idaho College of Law has a statewide mission to deliver affordable public legal education. As part of that mission, the College of Law has developed a focused, high-quality curriculum, including opportunities for professional development, hands-on legal clinics, and networking in Moscow and Boise. Students have the option to complete all three years in either Moscow or Boise. This option broadens and deepens the Juris Doctor curriculum with emphasis areas that correlate with Moscow’s academic campus and Boise’s entrepreneurial and governmental opportunities. Each of these communities presents a distinct array of venues for learning, and professional development.
Experiential learning opportunities complement the classroom experience, and we provide practical opportunities for students to refine their lawyering skills while helping those most in need. We have a robust Semester in Practice program and several in-house legal clinics in which third year law students take cases, conduct research, and draft documents under the supervision of practicing attorneys, judges, or policymakers. Students and employers report that University of Idaho College of Law graduates leave law school well equipped to practice law.
To learn more about the College of Law, visit https://www.uidaho.edu/law
THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO
University of Idaho leads education, research, and outreach as the state’s land-grant institution. Its more than 12,000 students come from all 50 states and around the world, with more than 70 percent coming from Idaho. U of I has seen five years of enrollment increase despite national trends.
Fall 2025 statistics:
- 65.8% of these students are from Idaho
- 28.9% are first-generation
- 1,980 are first time freshmen
U of I is a residential university with its main campus in Moscow, Idaho. It serves students statewide with centers in Boise, Coeur d’Alene, and Idaho Falls, as well Extension centers in 22 of the 24 counties and an outdoor field campus in McCall. Recently recognized as a Carnegie Foundation R1” university, executing expenditures of more than $140 million in 2024.
For the fourth year in a row, University of Idaho was recently ranked as the Best Value Public University in the West by U.S. News and World Report, and second in the nation behind the University of North Carolina.
As a noted national leader in student-centered learning and interdisciplinary research that promotes public service, the university combines the strength of a large university with the intimacy of small learning communities and a focus on helping students succeed and become leaders. More than 2,500 faculty and staff support and guide over 100 Bachelor’s, 63 Master’s and 32 doctoral degree options in the colleges of:
- Agricultural and Life Sciences
- Education, Health and Human Sciences
- Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences
U of I offers the state’s only public medical school opportunity, training doctors through collaboration with the University of Washington — a top ranked program. The College of Law is the state’s only law school, training lawyers who contribute to the legal profession in Idaho and beyond.
The residential campus located in Moscow is a place of transformation and lasting traditions. With more than 200 student groups, an active Greek system and a vibrant culture, the university is home to the renowned Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, for which U of I became the first public university to receive the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest arts honor. Vandal athletic teams compete in 14 men’s and women’s NCAA Division I sports, competing in the Big Sky Conference.
U of I Moscow is located on the homelands of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce), Palus (Palouse) and Schitsu’umsh (Coeur d’Alene) tribes. U of I extends gratitude to the indigenous people that call this place home, since time immemorial. U of I recognizes that it is our academic responsibility to build relationships with the indigenous people to ensure integrity of tribal voices.
For additional information about the University of Idaho, please view the website links below:
http://https/www.uidaho.edu
https://www.uidaho.edu/leadership
https://chrome-extension/efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https:/content-hub.uidaho.edu/api/public/content/f3975c4100674aa6871b692af2f99494?v=6e96351e
ABOUT MOSCOW, IDAHO
Just minutes away from the forests, rivers, lakes, and mountains of northern Idaho, Moscow is home to approximately 25,000 residents, and the urban amenities of the Coeur d’Alene-Spokane metropolitan area are within an 80-mile drive. The city is known for its rich culture and focus on education. It boasts a nationally ranked farmers market and year-round outdoor recreational opportunities. Moscow also features music festivals, art galleries and exhibitions, locally sourced restaurants, boutiques, bookstores, coffee shops, local breweries, a large organic and natural foods co-op, and much more.
Moscow is making its place as a festival town from Moscowberfest to the Vandal Block Party. Moscow offers residents big city attributes with the small-town affordability, friendliness, and support.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Priority consideration will be given to materials received by March 26, 2026.
Applications should include a
1) current CV and
2) a letter of interest that addresses the responsibilities and qualifications described above.
Buffkin/Baker, an executive search firm, is assisting the University of Idaho in the search. Inquiries of interest, nominations, and applications should be submitted electronically, in confidence, to:
Mr. Martin M. Baker, Managing Partner
Ms. Chelsie Whitelock, Associate Partner
Buffkin / Baker
[email protected]
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/sfq3ufnf8rjoj4kb0u5fu/vs2__PRVST_Sp26_Law-Dean_Position_Profile_4366203732.pdf?rlkey=88zfb8xsj5pnlnl9kyz5idyf8&&st=5603s03n&&dl=0
