The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) has announced that Renée McDonald Hutchins has been appointed the next dean of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, effective August 2022.
Dr. Lawrence T. Potter, Jr., Chief Academic Officer, said, “Dean Renée Hutchins’s vision and leadership has guided UDC Law through a turbulent time in higher education and during a global pandemic that has disrupted every aspect of the lives of our students. Despite those challenges, UDC Law has achieved great outcomes under Renée’s deanship and is positioned for success in an increasingly competitive market. Naturally, the University is very saddened about Dean Hutchins’s departure for another position. During her three years at the helm of the law school, she reinforced its foundations and built new bridges and partnerships to better educate and prepare our students. Along the way, she helped raise UDC Law’s profile to 5th place for clinical training in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report graduate school rankings – tying with Yale University – and thereby benefitting all of UDC. We will miss her intellect, problem solving and passion for the law, along with her spirit and humor. Her selection as the new dean of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law comes as no surprise, as any law school would be fortunate to land such a leader. One good thing is that she won’t be far and will remain a colleague and friend of the University community.”
Dean Hutchins said, “Serving as the Dean of UDC Law has been a true honor. With the unwavering support of university leadership and the hard work of UDC Law faculty, staff and students, we have accomplished great things. Despite unprecedented challenges, we kept the law school and its students front and center to accomplish remarkable improvements in bar pass rates, entering student metrics and post-graduation employment opportunities. We took an already remarkable clinical law program and pushed it to number five in the nation, and these are just some of the tremendous gains we made together. I am better for my time among the UDC family, and I can only hope in turn that the institution is better for my time there.”
During the next several weeks, the university will engage in planning to ensure there is a seamless transition and that UDC Law continues to be guided appropriately. An interim appointment will be announced, and plans will be made to launch a national search immediately for UDC Law’s next dean.
