Appointment of Michael E. Waterstone as Dean of the UCLA School of Law

March 27, 2023

Dear Colleagues:

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Michael E. Waterstone as the next dean of the UCLA School of Law. He will take up the role on or before August 15, 2023.

An accomplished administrator and legal scholar, Dean Waterstone currently serves as the Fritz B. Burns Dean at LMU Loyola Law School (LLS) as well as senior vice president at Loyola Marymount University. Since assuming leadership of Loyola Law School in 2016, he has presided over the development and growth of major new programs including the Loyola Social Justice Law Clinic, the Coelho Center on Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation and the LLS Antiracism Center; led the recruitment of more than 20 law faculty; overseen the creation of the Hybrid JD, a revamped version of LLS’ evening program; appointed the school’s inaugural associate dean of equity and inclusion; and secured some of the largest gifts in the school’s history.

Prior to his appointment as dean and senior vice president at LLS, Waterstone served as the school’s associate dean for research and academic centers (2009–14). He was also a visiting professor of law at Northwestern Law School (2014–15) and professor in the global law program at the University of Haifa (spring 2014). Before joining Loyola in 2006, he was a member of the law faculty at the University of Mississippi; served as a litigation associate at Munger, Tolles & Olson; and clerked for the Honorable Richard S. Arnold on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

A nationally recognized expert in disability and civil rights law, Dean Waterstone’s research and teaching interests include disability justice, civil rights law, employment law, and law and leadership. He has consulted on projects for the National Council on Disability and testified before the U.S. Senate on issues related to voters with disabilities and older voters. Internationally, he has worked with foreign governments, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions on disability rights laws in Israel, Japan, China, Bangladesh, Ireland and Vietnam. His articles have appeared in the Harvard Law Review, Emory Law Review, Notre Dame Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, Duke Law Journal, Vanderbilt Law Review, William and Mary Law Review and Northwestern Law Review, among others.

Dean Waterstone has served as a trustee for the Law School Admissions Council, a member of the Council on Access and Fairness for the State Bar of California and a commissioner on the American Bar Association’s Council on Disability Rights. He has also held leadership positions with the American Association of Law Schools. He earned his B.A. in political science from UCLA and his J.D. from Harvard Law School.

I want to thank the search/advisory committee members for assembling an outstanding pool of candidates for this position and for their roles in recruiting Dean Waterstone:

• Rosina M. Becerra (chair, January – March 2023) – professor emerita of Chicana/o and Central American studies, ethnomusicology and social welfare; senior associate director, Center for Minority Health Care Disparities; and faculty development liaison, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Personnel

• Gary M. Segura (chair, September – December 2022) – professor of public policy, political science and Chicana and Chicano studies

• LaToya Baldwin Clark – assistant professor of law

• William C. Boyd – Michael J. Klein Chair in Law; professor of law; faculty co-director, Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment

• Scott L. Cummings – Robert Henigson Professor of Legal Ethics; professor of law

• Cheryl I. Harris – Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Professor in Civil Rights and Civil Liberties; vice dean for community, equality and justice, School of Law

• Barbara Herman – Griffin Professor of Philosophy; professor of law

• James Park – professor of law

• R. Bradley Sears – David Sanders Distinguished Scholar of Law & Policy and founding executive director, The Williams Institute; associate dean of public interest law, School of Law

• Kirk J. Stark – Barrall Family Professor of Tax Law and Policy

• Lynn Vavreck – Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics and Public Policy; professor of political science and of communication

I also wish to recognize and express my gratitude to Russell Korobkin for his distinguished service as interim dean since last June.

Dean Waterstone’s administrative and academic experience and achievements, coupled with his UCLA roots and strong ties to our city, position him well to lead UCLA Law at this moment. Chancellor Block and I are confident that the school will reach new heights under his capable leadership.

Please join me in congratulating Michael and welcoming him back to UCLA and into this new role.

Sincerely,

Darnell Hunt
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost