COLUMBUS – Ohio State University Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray, with the concurrence of President William E. Kirwan, has recommended the appointment of Nancy Hardin Rogers, vice provost of academic administration and professor of law at Ohio State, as dean of the College of Law, pending board approval.

Rogers of UPPER ARLINGTON will replace Greg Williams, who is leaving the university to become president of the City College of the City University of New York (CUNY). The president will recommend her appointment to the University’s Board of Trustees at its June 29 meeting; and, subject to the Board’s approval, the appointment will be effective on August 1, 2001.

In announcing the appointment Tuesday (6/5), Ray said, “Professor Rogers has received overwhelming support from the College’s faculty, staff, students, and alumni, as well as from other university and external constituencies. While we will miss her greatly in the Office of Academic Affairs, I am confident that she is the right person at the right time to continue moving the college toward ever-increasing excellence. Wherever she is, Nancy does a superb job; and the university benefits greatly. I look forward to working with her in her new role.”

Rogers said she is looking forward to leading the College of Law.

“Ohio State is one of the nation’s leading law schools. The faculty and staff are committed to moving the law school to an even higher level of distinction, and the alumni are loyal and supportive of these plans,” she said. “I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to serve as dean, especially at this exciting time.”

Since June 1999, Rogers has served as Vice Provost for Academic Administration where her responsibilities have included oversight for the university’s international programs, ADA program, University Libraries, and the Battelle Endowment for Technology and Human Affairs. In addition, she has had policy and coordinative responsibilities for university-wide academic initiatives, such as the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy and the P-12 Project; and is the provost’s chief liaison for a number of other offices in the university.

“Today, Ohio State’s College of Law is ranked among the top 20 of the nation’s public law schools, with one of the most racially diverse student bodies in the country,” said Kirwan. “Nancy Rogers has the vision, expertise and management skills to lead our program to an even higher level of excellence.”

Professor Rogers is a highly regarded legal scholar, an outstanding educator and a loyal Buckeye, and she is very focused on providing Ohio State’s law students with the finest education experience available,” Kirwan added.

Rogers holds the Joseph S. Platt-Porter, Wright, Morris & Arthur Professorship in Law and is a nationally respected scholar who was instrumental in shaping the College of Law’s renowned alternative dispute resolution program. She also served for five years as associate dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Law prior to being named vice provost. Professor Rogers also has continued teaching in the college and spent one semester as a visiting professor of law at Harvard Law School.

A former clerk for Judge Thomas D. Lambros of the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Rogers was also a staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society in Cleveland. Rogers has continued her work on behalf of legal services for all persons through eight years of service on the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, which distributes federal funding for civil legal services for low-income persons. This is a Presidential appointment requiring U. S. Senate confirmation.

Rogers is the co-author of Dispute Resolution: Negotiation, Mediation, and Other Processes. She also co-authored two award-winning books on mediation and the law.

Rogers received the prestigious Ritter Award from the Ohio State Bar Foundation for Outstanding Contributions to the Administration of Justice, and she is the president of the Board of Trustees of the Columbus Bar Foundation. Rogers also is a Commissioner of the National Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws, appointed by Ohio Governor George Voinovich in 1998 and reappointed by Governor Taft in 2000.

Rogers earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Kansas and her Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School.

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