Law School Dean Hotties: Your Male Nominees

Above the Law’s super-exciting Law School Dean Hotties Contest is in full swing. Yesterday we announced the female nominees (click here to vote). Today, it’s the men’s turn.

The nomination rules can be reviewed here. You were free to nominate deans other than THE dean of the law school, such as deputy, assistant, or associate deans. But the nominee had to be a current dean; no former deans allowed.

Please note this slate of nominees is final. Pollhost, which is administering this poll, does not permit us to add entrants or edit a poll after the voting has commenced. If your favorite dean didn’t make the cut, we apologize. We had many male nominees, and tough decisions had to be made. (Our goal was a slate of seven nominees, just as we have on the women’s side.)

You can scrutinize the photos and testimonials for the male nominees, and vote for America’s Hottest Law School Dean, after the jump.

Before proceeding to the nominees, a few quick shout-outs to three handsome gentlemen who were excluded from the contest as former deans:

“Too bad there’s no category for former deans. I went to Michigan during the reign of the ultra-hot LEE C. BOLLINGER, now president of Columbia. A live Lee Bollinger sighting once literally took my breath away.”

“ROBERT ‘GIL’ JOHNSTON, former dean of John Marshall Law School, deserves an honorable mention. How many law school deans can say they’ve had a mistress?”

“If this contest had been held a few years ago, the prize would have gone to Boalt Hall’s dashing and charismatic ex-dean, JOHN P. DWYER. Alas, John Dwyer resigned as dean after acknowledging an intimate encounter with a student (which she claimed was sexual harassment; he argued it was consensual).”

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But enough dwelling on past glories; let’s focus on the present. Here are your nominees:

1. EVAN H. CAMINKER
Title: Dean and Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, MI
Testimonials:
“No contest. Behold the smoking hotness of Evan Caminker, Dean of the University of Michigan Law School. I don’t really know him, but I did recently see him in person and can attest that the pictures barely do him justice. Maybe someone else will send you better ones.”
“This question is no fair in a Caminker world — against Evan Caminkier, everyone else is in a race for second. Hair like that… on a Brennan clerk. With a dean like Caminker in the world, how could this even be a contest?”
“Caminker’s terribly smart. He clerked for Brennan, was Deputy Assistant AG in the Office of Legal Counsel during the Clinton administration, and can speak intelligently about the football team’s prospects of going undefeated this year (not terrific). In Michigan, when we talk about a view of the cathedral, what we mean is the Big House.”
“Dean Caminker and I have the same hairdresser, and his hairdresser has a huge crush on him. He has the gay vote, and if that’s not a binding authority as to the hottest law school dean, this isn’t a true hottie contest.”
“I do not now nor have I ever attended the University of Michigan Law School, although I visited twice and strongly considered attending. A major plus, in my view, was Dean Caminker. Here’s a guy who looks like he could blend in with the students, as comfortable on the southern California surfing scene as he is in the ivory towers of Ann Arbor. Forget ‘hot’ – Dean Caminker is the epitome of cool.”
“Evan Caminker looks like handsome actor Scott Cohen (who played Jessica’s love interest in Kissing Jessica Stein, a very fun flick).”

2. HIRAM CHODOSH
Title: Dean and Professor of Law, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law, Salt Lake City, UT
Testimonials:
“No offense, but I think this one is going to be fairly obvious, unless there are some assistant deans of students out there I’ve never seen. The runaway winner is without doubt newly minted Dean Hiram Chodosh of the University of Utah. Strong jaw, Kronman-esque coif, globe trotter, nice founding-father first name. Dean Chodosh is the total package.”
“I cast my vote for Dean Chodosh of the University of Utah (S.J. Quinney College of Law). He’s ruggedly handsome, as one would expect from the dean of a law school in the great state of Utah. Check out his website photo, in which he sports a somewhat scruffy beard. How many law school deans can pull off that look? If you’re looking to fill the spot of America’s hottest male law school dean, you’ve got to Hiram!”

3. STEVEN P. CROLEY
Title: Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, MI
Testimonials:
“Steven Croley is THE Tom Cruise look-a-like. The girls in our administrative law class were ALL salivating over him. He’s funny and he looks great in a suit. One of the other male professors at Michigan, who will remain nameless (although you know who you are, you crazy nut!), said about him: ‘It’s really hard to take Steve seriously at first. Nobody that beautiful should be that brilliant.'”
“The choice is clear: Steve Croley, Associate Dean at U. Mich. Check out this quasi-glamor shot of him from the ABA website, or his headshot from the Michigan website. In the first he has a pretty-boy appeal, in the second he exudes an irresistible masculinity. But either way you slice it, the man is hot. Here’s the highest compliment I can pay Dean Croley: I’m sitting in ADMIN LAW, and I’m getting wet…”

4. JAMES ALLAN GASH
Title: Associate Dean for Student Life and Associate Professor of Law, Pepperdine University School of Law, Malibu, CA
Testimonials:
“James Gash never did anything for me (I’m not into dudes!), but many females thought he was hot. Here’s a link to his bio (with picture). When I was in school, he played flag football on an intramural team. (He played qb in college.) He also made himself freely available to students with sob stories — seems to have a big heart. Plus, he clerked for Edith Jones (and interviewed with Clarence Thomas) and worked with Ken Starr while at Kirkland & Ellis.”
“I nominate James Gash for most handsome law school dean. Gash is a four-letter word — and it’s spelled H-U-N-K! He’s even more gorgeous than Pepperdine’s oceanside perch in Malibu. Those sensitive eyes, that shy smile, that strong jaw… Students here make up problems just so they can go see Dean Gash and cry on his broad shoulders. SWOON…”

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5. KENNETH RANDALL
Title: Dean and Thomas E. McMillan Professor of Law, University of Alabama School of Law, Tuscaloosa, AL
Testimonials:
“Kenneth Randall is the epitome of class, style, and professionalism. From the top of his impeccably coiffed mane down to his custom-designed wingtips, he is a man who oozes qualities most commonly associated with good breeding. Not since Cary Grant have we seen such successful use of the pocket square.”
“Despite often being mistaken for Ashton Kutcher, Dean Randall remains humble and seemingly unaware of his movie star good looks. His skill in wielding a giant pair of scissors is unmatched and is invaluable during the school’s many ribbon cutting ceremonies. But, by far, his greatest quality is his ability to pry money out of the always tight fists of money grubbing lawyers. And rumor has it he can crack a walnut with his ass.”
“I’ve gotta go with Kenneth Randall, Dean of the University of Alabama Law School. He is an incredible dresser, with an amazing sense of style. And he’s a very handsome man, in a matinee-idol sort of way — like a young Ronald Reagan, or maybe Michael Douglas. Granted, Dean Randall may be older than some of your nominees. But they are mere boys, and he is a man. Vote for Dean Randall!”

6. JED RUBENFELD
Title: Deputy Dean and Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law, Yale Law School, New Haven, CT
Testimonials:
“Not only is Jed Rubenfeld a brilliant constitutional law scholar, he’s also a published novelist. His new book, The Interpretation of Murder — an historical thriller, for which Henry Holt reportedly forked over an $800,000 advance — is flying off shelves. Being able to write scholarly work and literary fiction is incredibly sexy. Plus, he’s just plain hot. Did I mention that? And I suppose that’s all that really counts, in a ‘meritocratic’ beauty contest.”
“Deputy Dean Jed Rubenfeld, at Yale, is a total stud (and knows it). He looks much younger than his 47 years, and he keeps up a youthful appearance by tooling around New Haven in a silver BMW sports car. Female law students are constantly throwing themselves at him. And with good reason. In addition to being a Con Law scholar, he’s a published novelist and former Juilliard-trained actor. He’s truly an amazing guy.”
(Sorry, ladies — Jed Rubenfeld is off the market. He’s married to another YLS prof: Amy Chua, also a beautiful, brilliant, bestselling author. Her book World on Fire, a study of globalization and democracy, hit the NYT bestseller list a few years back.)

7. JAMES E. RYAN
Title: Academic Associate Dean and William L. Matheson & Robert M. Morgenthau Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Virginia Law School, Charlottesville, VA; Visiting Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA
Testimonials:
“Jimmy Ryan at UVA. He is away at Harvard this year, but is supposedly coming back to be The Dean next year when Jeffries steps down. A total hottie. Great chest, gorgeous eyes, nice hair, and doesn’t look a day over 25 (though he is somewhere in his late 30’s, I think). I graduated a few years back and he was on leave for my first year. When he returned and started walking around the halls, everyone wanted to know who the hot new student was. Turned out he’s Associate Dean — and next in line to the throne!”
“I cast my vote for Dean Ryan at Virginia Law. First, he’s smoking hot. Second, he’s one of the Elect — a former Rehnquist clerk — but believed to be largely liberal (unconfirmed). Third, and most importantly, he (almost) won the UVA Law 2004 Beer Pong Invitational Charity Tournament. Pretty awesome, huh? (He and his partner, another faculty member, had to back out of the final round because his partner was up for tenure that week and thought it might look bad.)”

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Those are the seven dashing men in the running for the title of America’s Hottest Male Law School Dean. We reserve the right to hold a runoff if necessary. And now, the poll:

Who is America’s hottest male law school dean?
Evan Caminker
Hiram Chodosh
Steven Croley
James Gash
Kenneth Randall
Jed Rubenfeld
James Ryan
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com

To all the contestants: GOOD LUCK!!!

Update: Interested in seeing some of the male law school deans who didn’t make the cut? You can review and vote upon them here.

Earlier: Above the Law Hotties: Law School Deans
Law School Dean Hotties: Your Female Nominees