IU McKinney vice dean heads for Florida International Law

Antony Page, vice dean at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, will be resigning his position and leaving July 30, 2018, when he will become the dean of the Florida International University College of Law.

Page joined IU McKinney in 2003 and was promoted to vice dean six years ago. He had already been planning to step down from the law school’s administration this spring when he received the offer from FIU. Leaving Indianapolis, he said, will be bittersweet.

“I was able to work with wonderful students and great faculty and probably most of all our fantastic alumni,” Page said of his tenure. “I will be very sorry to leave IU McKinney. It is a fantastic place with fantastic people.”

Page

With Page’s exit, the law school will be making some minor structural changes to its senior leadership team.

Professor Michael Pitts has been tapped to be Page’s replacement, becoming vice dean and focusing on internal affairs. Karen Bravo, currently associate dean for graduate studies and international affairs, will have her title changed to vice dean and will be given additional responsibilities over the Master of Jurisprudence program as well as development and the alumni association.

Dean Andrew Klein said the transition in the administration will be smooth and the law school will continue moving forward with its many initiatives. Still, he said IU McKinney does not want Page to leave.

Bravo

Pitts

“We’ll miss Antony,” Klein said. “He’s a super person. We’re very, very lucky to have had someone of his talent.”

Page will be leading a law school that is similar to IU McKinney. The FIU College of Law, located in Miami, is a public school in an urban setting with both day and night programs.

It was established in 2001 and became fully accredited by the American Bar Association in 2006. Its graduates are high performing: the classes of 2016 and 2017 posted bar passage rates slightly above 87 percent, and almost 75 percent of each class were hired into J.D.-required positions.

The college’s “great students and great outcomes” were among the things that Page said most attracted him to FIU.

A native of Canada, Page received his undergraduate degree from McGill University then entered public service. He worked for the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs in various positions, including serving as second secretary & vice consul in Thailand, Laos and Burma and as assistant trade commissioner in the European Union Trade and Economic Relations Division.

After graduating from Stanford Law School in 1997, he clerked for Judge A.L. Alarcon of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Then he joined Sullivan & Cromwell, working in mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate finance.

However, Page was always drawn to the classroom. He enjoyed his time in private practice, but he wanted to dive into academic research to explore ideas about the law. Working in a big firm did not leave much time for studying and writing. Eventually, he came to realize his passion was in academia.

“I’ve always enjoyed teaching,” Page said. “Teaching is enormously rewarding.”

Universities were not unfamiliar territory to Page. His father was a college English professor, so he grew up around the academic life.

Page himself has developed a strong commitment to access to legal education. “I continue to believe legal education is transformative both for the students and for society as a whole,” he said. “Lawyers have great potential to improve society.”

Getting settled into FIU, Page admitted, will not leave him much time to teach or research. Still, he noted he will have an impact in other ways, largely by pulling all the stakeholders together and working with them as part of a team.

Klein is confident Page will do well in his new role.

“FIU is really lucky to get someone of his caliber,” Klein said. “He’s going to do a superb job.”•