IRVINE Erwin Chemerinsky, the founding dean of UC Irvine’s School of Law, will become the next dean of UC Berkeley’s law school, ending his nine-year tenure in Orange County during which he has taught courses on the First Amendment, published multiple books and law review articles, and argued in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Berkeley announced the appointment on Wednesday, May 17. Chemerinsky will begin his five-year term at Berkeley School of Law on July 1.
“It’s bittersweet for me,” Chemerinsky said. “It’s been an amazing nine years here, but it’s great to have a new challenge.”
Chemerinsky’s tenure saw UCI’s law school transform from a neophyte institution to a well-respected one. In 2016 and this year, U.S. News & World Report listed UCI 28th in its annual ranking of best law schools in the country. It has 47 full-time faculty and 350 students.
“I’m proud of what we accomplished here,” he said.
But, the dean said, he always told himself he would not stay at Irvine longer than 10 years – and Berkeley was the right fit for his future.
Chemerinsky, 64, will make $432,600 a year at Berkeley, about 3 percent higher than his current UCI salary, said Mike Dirda, a Berkeley spokesman.
L. Song Richardson, who has a law degree from Yale University, will become the interim dean when Chemerinsky leaves UCI. Richardson joined the faculty at the UCI law school in 2014, and teaches criminal law, criminal procedure, and law and social science.
“I think she will do a terrific job,” Chemerinsky said. “I am a huge fan and supporter of hers.”
Enrique Lavernia, UCI’s provost and executive vice chancellor, said Richardson will be an effective dean while the university conducts a national search for Chemerinsky’s successor.
The timeline for replacing deans, he added, is typically six months to a year, but “regardless of the target timeline, our priority is to find the right candidate.”
Richardson – who has also taught at DePaul University, American University and the University of Iowa – said in a statement that she is “honored and humbled” to become interim dean and noted Chemerinsky’s role in turning the law school into an “extraordinary” institution.
“Through our collective leadership, I look forward to an exciting future for UCI law and to more continued success,” she said.
The months-long hiring process at Berkeley was challenging and extremely compelling, Chemerinsky and officials there said. The national search included hundreds of applicants, eventually pared down to three, with the names of the finalists going public in April.
The finalists spent two days in Berkeley being interviewed and meeting officials, said Henry Brady, the dean of Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy who headed the hiring committee.
“He had taken a law school from nothing and turned it into a very impressive law school,” Barry said. “Few people have the abilities he has.”
Barry said that besides his track record at UCI, Chemerinsky’s status as a “world-renowned scholar,” his character and his reputation as an educator who cares and is understanding of people set him apart.
“We feel very lucky to have him,” he said.
Laura Lively graduated from the law school this year and plans to work for a Los Angeles firm once she passes the state bar’s test.
“We all love him so much and feel so privileged and lucky to have had him for the past nine years,” Lively said. “But his legacy lives on beyond his tenure. I’m excited for Berkeley students to see what a privilege it is to have him as a professor.”
Mujtaba Fatah is an undergraduate student at UCI, and he said Chemerinsky’s move to Berkeley has shaken his plans.
“I was planning on going to UCI law,” he said. “But I’m not too sure anymore, due to Chemerinsky’s resignation.”
Chemerinsy said that his goals – beyond the “daunting” short-term one of finding a place to live – is to “maintain and continue the excellence” of Berkeley’s law school and to help it fund-raise. He will also continue teaching.
He will miss Orange County and the people around the law school.
“We created something very special here with the faculty and the students,” Chemerinsky said. “Few things in life go as well as could be hoped, and this was one of them.”
