Maureen O’ Rourke, a Yale graduate who has served as dean ad interim for the Boston University School of Law since 2004, was given the position permanently on May 11, months after she was named a finalist in two other national searches for law school deans.
O’Rourke, who had been in contact with search committees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Texas at Austin, said she accepted the offer from BU because she thinks the university is moving in the right direction and is committed to the law school’s success.
“We have a community dedicated to and excited about moving the law school forward,” she said in an email. “Our students, alumni, faculty and staff have been incredibly supportive of both the law school and me personally. Finally, I have a great fondness for BU since I began my academic career here.”
O’ Rourke was chosen from a pool of five finalists by the BUSL Dean Search Advisory Committee, according to May 11 press release.
“The committee conducted a national search, but found that Maureen O’Rourke had more of the qualities that we were looking for than any of the other candidates,” Search Committee Chair Jeffrey Henderson, the College of Arts and Sciences dean, said in an email. “Boston University is fortunate to have someone of Dean O’Rourke’s stature and ability in this important deanship.”
Henderson said he thinks O’Rourke will bring a variety of strong leadership programs to the law school, including effective fundraising, improved alumni relations, competent administration and solid leadership inside and outside of the law school.
“As dean , O’Rourke stabilized the law school’s administrative and financial affairs and has put the school on a sound footing going forward,” he said.
O’Rourke said any changes she makes to the law school will build on the school’s traditions. She said the law school is working on a new website that should be available in July, in addition to revamping the school’s hardcopy publications.
“We hope to provide better student services with the addition of some new staff and to hire additional faculty in the next couple of years,” she said. “We will also likely make some changes in our organizational structure, including naming a new associate dean for
research.”
In the long-term, the School of Law needs to rise into the next tier of U.S. law schools, O’Rourke said.
“We need to … enhance the physical facility substantially, expand aid to students interested in public service, continue to hire faculty who are both excellent teachers and top scholars and develop the curriculum to respond to changes in the practice of law arising from globalization and new technologies,” she said.
O’Rourke said the School of Law deanship is a great honor and a great responsibility, and also offers the chance to make a difference and to help move the law school forward with the help of the community.
“Maureen has already demonstrated her leadership abilities during her exemplary service as dean ad interim,” Brown said in the press release. “She brings to Boston University the intellectual strength, inclusiveness and energy needed to lead the school forward into the first rank of American law schools.”