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Former Notre Dame Law School dean Nell Jessup Newton has returned to the northern Indiana law school this year as a professor.
Newton, who was Notre Dame Law dean from 2009 to 2019, returns to the South Bend School after spending the last two academic years serving as interim dean at the University of Miami School of Law for 2021-2022 and Wake Forest University School of Law for 2022-2023.
“I love to solve problems and help law schools move forward during a transitional period,” Newton said in a news release. “Every law school is different and advising the dean search committee to help surface candidates who would be an excellent fit for the law school is also deeply satisfying.”
At the University of Miami, Newton helped strengthen the school’s admissions and career development services and led the search for a permanent law dean.
David Yellen became dean and M. Minnette Massey professor of law after Newton’s interim deanship ended on July 1, 2022.
“She came into a challenging situation, provided great leadership, and helped set the table for a successful transition to a new permanent dean,” Yellen said in the news release. “She persuaded me that this was a job worth pursuing. Very few people could have pulled this all off so well.”
Then at Wake Forest, Newton was part of the team that brought in another former Indiana law dean: Andrew Klein, the former dean of Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law who is now dean at Wake Forest Law.
Wake Forest University Provost Michele Gillespie said Newton set out to meet every faculty and staff member at the law school as soon as she accepted the interim deanship.
“Within weeks of her arrival, she gave me her candid, humane, and optimistic assessment of the school’s opportunities and challenges, then kindly and generously shared her discoveries and assessments with the faculty, and suggested multiple paths forward that the faculty might pursue to solve their difficulties,” Gillespie said in the news release.
Newton stepped down as Notre Dame Law dean in 2019 after 10 years leading the law school. She was succeeded by current dean G. Marcus Cole.
Newton also previously served as law dean at the University of Denver, the University of Connecticut and the University of California, Hastings, giving her a record-setting six deanships.
“It’s always nice to have the most experienced dean in the country return to your faculty,” Cole said in the news release. “In addition, Nell brings her expertise in Native American law back to Notre Dame Law School.”
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