Next dean of Washburn law school focused on diversity

Washburn University's next law school dean has worked in a tribal appellate court for the past several years, and she has been heavily involved in promoting diversity.

In a news release Thursday afternoon, Washburn named Carla D. Pratt as next dean of its School of Law. She was hired after a nationwide search and will succeed Thomas J. Romig, who will step down June 30.

Pratt currently is associate dean for diversity and inclusion and Nancy J. LaMont Faculty Scholar at Penn State University's Dickinson Law School. Since 2012, she served as an associate justice for the Supreme Court of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in Fort Yates, N.D., where she heard appeals in cases related to tribal criminal law, family law, business law and constitutional law.

She previously practiced law with Drinker, Biddle & Reath LLP in Philadelphia and as a deputy attorney general in New Jersey, according to the news release.

Washburn president Jerry Farley said Pratt would work to strengthen the law school's reputation for excellence in legal education.

"She has a deep commitment to the legal profession, to teaching and to community," Farley said in a statement. "Carla has the experience and leadership skills necessary to execute our strategic vision with energy and enthusiasm."

Pratt has taught courses in constitutional law, federal Indian law, education law, and race and American law.

At Penn State, she worked to promote diversity at the law school and at the university level. She served on the university president’s Commission for LGBTQ Equity, as chairwoman of a university committee charged with review and implementation of its Diversity Strategic Plan, and received the law school’s Philip J. McConnaughay award for outstanding achievement in diversity-related work.

In a statement, Pratt said the law school thrived under Romig's leadership "during the most challenging years in legal education.

"My hope is to build on this foundation by continuing to make legal education at Washburn accessible financially and academically, and by preparing Washburn Law graduates for practice in a rapidly evolving legal marketplace," she said.