Case Western School Of Law Dean Falls On Sword

Gary J. Simson, best known for his incessant bitching about the U.S. News rankings, is stepping down as dean of the Case Western Reserve School of Law:

We write to inform you that Gary J. Simson has agreed to resign as dean, effective at the end of this academic semester. Starting today, Robert H. Rawson Jr. will serve as Special Advisor to the Provost for the School of Law. Once, Mr. Simson steps down, Mr. Rawson will become interim dean of the school.

Mr. Rawson is a partner of the Jones Day law firm and served for 15 years as Partner in Charge of its Cleveland office. A Rhodes Scholar who graduated from Princeton University before earning his Juris Doctorate from Harvard University, he is highly regarded as a litigator, with particular expertise in antitrust matters. He also has deep appreciation and understanding of higher education, having spent 20 years on the Board of Trustees of Princeton, including 13 as chair of the board’s executive committee. We are deeply grateful both to Mr. Rawson and to the Jones Day law firm for this opportunity to tap his expertise during this time of transition.

We will launch a national search to fill the dean’s position, and note that Mr. Rawson has indicated he has no interest in being a candidate for the permanent post.

Simson has had a somewhat rocky tenure at Case Western. As one tipster put it:

Simson has been at the school for just over 2 years and has had an “uneven” response from the larger community, at best…

Simson was the dean who invited Ohio AG Marc “Dannimal House” Dann to come as a commencement day speaker. That offer was later rescinded. But he’ll be best remembered around these parts for his full frontal attack on the U.S. News rankings.

Gary, we hardly knew ye. The world can always use another Brian Leiter.

Read the full departure memo after the jump.

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CASE WESTERN RESERVE SCHOOL OF LAW — LAW SCHOOL LEADERSHIP CHANGES

To: Faculty, Staff, and Students of the School of Law

From: President Barbara R. Snyder and Provost W. A. “Bud” Baeslack III

Re: Law School Leadership Changes

We write to inform you that Gary J. Simson has agreed to resign as dean, effective at the end of this academic semester. Starting today, Robert H. Rawson Jr. will serve as Special Advisor to the Provost for the School of Law. Once, Mr. Simson steps down, Mr. Rawson will become interim dean of the school.

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Mr. Rawson is a partner of the Jones Day law firm and served for 15 years as Partner in Charge of its Cleveland office. A Rhodes Scholar who graduated from Princeton University before earning his Juris Doctorate from Harvard University, he is highly regarded as a litigator, with particular expertise in antitrust matters. He also has deep appreciation and understanding of higher education, having spent 20 years on the Board of Trustees of Princeton, including 13 as chair of the board’s executive committee. We are deeply grateful both to Mr. Rawson and to the Jones Day law firm for this opportunity to tap his expertise during this time of transition.

We will launch a national search to fill the dean’s position, and note that Mr. Rawson has indicated he has no interest in being a candidate for the permanent post. Members of the search committee will be drawn from faculty, staff, students, and alumni. We are seeking committee members who are dedicated to the best interest of the law school and who have earned the confidence of the law school community. If you would like to nominate people to serve on the search committee, please forward their names to [Redacted] by 5 p.m. Wednesday, October 22. Within your emails, please provide your reasons for recommending those individuals.

Mr. Simson will remain on the faculty as the Joseph C. Hostetler-Baker & Hostetler Professor of Law. We are grateful to him for his service to the school, and note in particular his accomplishments in raising the academic stature of the entering class and securing two significant gifts for the school’s social justice initiative.

This law school is full of people of great talent, dedication, and intellect. We have confidence in its future – and in all of you.

Earlier: The U.S. News Rankings: More Wailing and Gnashing of Teeth

The Rankings They Are A-Changin’: Bob Dylan and U.S. News