CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Vikram Amar, the senior associate dean for academic affairs and a professor of law at the University of California at Davis School of Law, has been named dean of the University of Illinois College of Law, pending approval by the U. of I. Board of Trustees at its July 23 meeting in Chicago.
Amar, who would become the college’s 13th dean and the Iwan Foundation Professor of Law effective Aug. 16, would replace Bruce P. Smith, who was dean from 2009 to 2014, when he stepped down to join the faculty of the more than century-old college. John D. Colombo, the Albert E. Jenner Jr. Professor of Law, has served as interim dean of the college for the past year and will rejoin the faculty once Amar’s appointment has been approved.
“Professor Vik Amar stood out to all of us involved in this national search as the clear choice to lead the College of Law here at Illinois,” said Ilesanmi Adesida, the vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost of the Urbana campus. “His vision of a college recognized for its cutting-edge scholarship and for close connections to the profession and society in which its graduates will serve is one that aligns perfectly with the land-grant values of this university. He understands the challenges of providing world-class legal educational and professional experiences to our students while ensuring that those experiences remain affordable and accessible.
“I look forward to working with Dean Amar as he leads one of our oldest and proudest colleges to national and international pre-eminence.”
Amar, 52, says his experience as an upper-level law school administrator should serve him well in the top post at the College of Law, which has consistently been ranked in the top tier of the U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of the nation’s law schools.
“For more than seven years as associate dean, I was deeply involved in virtually every aspect of law school operations – an experience that helped prepare me to succeed as the dean at Illinois,” he said. “It’s a privilege to have the opportunity to lead such a remarkable institution, and I look forward to not only helping the college achieve its strategic goals but also advancing the mission of this great public research university.
“The future of the University of Illinois College of Law is very bright, and I’m excited to be a part of it.”
As a scholar, Amar has focused on constitutional law, criminal and civil procedure, and remedies. In 2009, he wrote a book titled “Freedom of Speech: The First Amendment, Its Constitutional History and Contemporary Debate.” He is a co-author of “Constitutional Law: Cases and Materials” and a number of volumes in the Wright & Miller Federal Practice and Procedure Treatise. He has also published scholarship in a variety of law journals, including the Yale Law Journal, the Stanford Law Review and the California Law Review.
Amar earned a law degree from Yale University, where he served as an articles editor for the Yale Law Journal. After graduation in 1988, he clerked for Judge William A. Norris of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. From 1989 to 1990, he clerked for Associate Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the U.S. Supreme Court.
From 1990 to 1993, Amar practiced law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Northern California, focusing on federal white-collar criminal defense and civil litigation.
Editor’s note: To arrange interviews with Vikram Amar, call Carolyn Turner at 217-244-0001; email carolynt@illinois.edu.
