Title

SHIPLEY STEPPING DOWN AS UGA LAW DEAN; REBECCA WHITE NAMED INTERIM DEAN

Abstract

Monday, June 2, 2003

WRITER: Larry B. Dendy, 706/542-8078; ldendy@uga.edu CONTACT: David Shipley, 706/542-7140; shipley@uga.edu

SHIPLEY STEPPING DOWN AS UGA LAW DEAN; REBECCA WHITE NAMED INTERIM DEAN

ATHENS, Ga. - David E. Shipley, who has been dean of the University of Georgia School of Law for five years, announced today that he will step down June 30 and take a position on the law school faculty.

UGA Provost Arnett Mace announced that Rebecca H. White, a law professor who has been serving as associate provost, will become interim law dean beginning July 1.

Shipley came to the law school in 1998 from the University of Kentucky, where he had been dean for five years. Previously he was dean of the University of Mississippi law school for three years and was on the University of South Carolina law faculty for 13 years. He said that after 13 years in administration, he is ready to move back to teaching and writing.

"I still enjoy many aspects of being dean, such as working with our superb students and getting to know many of our loyal alumni, but I would like to teach more than one seminar each year and start writing law review articles again," he said.

"I am very proud of what we are accomplishing here, and I look forward to contributing to this great university and its outstanding law school as an active, enthusiastic and engaged member of the faculty." Mace said Shipley "is to be commended for his leadership during the past five years, particularly the large increase in alumni participation in the School of Law and his relationship with students." UGA President Michael F. Adams said, "I am most appreciative to Dean Shipley for his efforts to bring excellence to our School of Law, and I wish him well in his return to the classroom."

White, who holds the J. Alton Hosch professorship in the law school, is a specialist in the areas of labor law, employment law, employment discrimination and labor arbitration. She has worked in the provost's office for about seven months, serving as associate provost and associate vice president for academic affairs on an interim basis until the appointments became permanent earlier this year.

"Associate Provost White is highly respected by her colleagues, students, faculty and administration of the University of Georgia," Mace said. "In addition, Rebecca is highly regarded by the law profession. During the past seven months, I have gained an even greater appreciation for her immense abilities and skillful leadership. I am very confident that she will provide outstanding leadership as the interim dean of the School of Law."

White received the Josiah Meigs Award, UGA's top teaching honor in 2000, and law graduates have chosen her six times to receive the law school's Faculty Book Award for teaching excellence. A member of UGA's Teaching Academy, she has been a Senior Teaching Fellow and was a Senior Faculty Fellow for the Foundation Fellows program.

She is author or co-author of numerous publications including articles in law reviews and a casebook. She is on the editorial board of the Labor Law Journal. ##

COinS