Columbia Law Appoints Its First Black Dean
Columbia's first Black dean has a background in campus free speech issues.
Daniel Abebe (Image via LinkedIn)
Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.
I have long admired Columbia Law School for its unique combination of distinctive qualities—exceptional faculty, students, and staff; a bedrock commitment to academic and scholarly excellence; innovative clinical and experiential learning opportunities; robust relationships with alumni and the practicing bar; and an unparalleled location in New York City. I am humbled to have been selected as dean and I look forward to joining the Law School community in August.
— Daniel Abebe, in comments given to Law.com on his ascension to the deanship at Columbia Law School. Abebe currently serves as vice provost for Academic Affairs and Governance at the University of Chicago Law School. He will succeed Gillian Lester, who has been dean of Columbia Law since 2015. As noted by Reuters, he has experience dealing with campus free speeech issues. Abebe — a graduate of Harvard Law and a former Cravath associate — will be the elite law school’s first Black dean, and the second Black dean in the T14.
Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on X/Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.
