School of Law Dean

Dear colleagues,

On behalf of Chancellor Gillman, it is my privilege to announce the appointment of Austen Parrish as dean of UCI’s School of Law, effective August 3, 2022.

Since 2014, Parrish has served as Dean and James H. Rudy Professor at Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Under his leadership, the School launched a far-reaching and ambitious strategic plan, grew its research centers, launched new clinics and public service programs, expanded interdisciplinary degree programs, fostered diversity and inclusion, and completed a $60 million capital campaign.

Dean Parrish brings significant experience and strong connections to Southern California. Prior to joining Indiana University Bloomington, Parrish was interim dean and CEO, vice dean, and the Irwin R. Buchalter Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. While at Southwestern, he served as Director of the Vancouver Summer Law Program, a comparative and international law summer program in collaboration with the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law and the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, a United Nations affiliate. He has also taught at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Before joining academia, Dean Parrish was an attorney with O’Melveny and Myers in Los Angeles in their litigation department.

Parrish’s research and teaching interests focus on transnational law and transnational litigation. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles that have been published in leading law reviews and is the co-author of two books. He has expertise in legal and policy issues related to the extraterritorial application of domestic law. Over his career, he has taught a variety of courses, including civil procedure, constitutional law, federal courts, transnational law, international environmental law, and public international law. He has taught not just law students, but also in Indiana University’s prestigious Wells Scholars Program, where he was twice named a Wells Scholars Professor.

Parrish is involved with a range of national organizations focused on legal education. A fellow of the Association of American Law Schools, he serves on the Association’s governing board, its Executive Committee, as well as its Deans Steering Committee. He is a long-standing member of the board of directors for AccessLex Institute, a nonprofit dedicated to the betterment of legal education with a focus on issues of access and affordability. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute and has been actively involved with the Law School Deans Group for the Big 10 Academic Alliance. In 2019, the Indiana Supreme Court appointed him to the Study Commission on the Future of the Indiana Bar Examination.

I am grateful to the search committee and its chair, Alejandro E. Camacho, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Faculty Director, Center for Land, Environment and Natural Resources, for their contributions to this nationwide search. I would like to extend my appreciation to Bryant Garth for his leadership and service as interim dean of the School of Law since June 2021.

Please join me in welcoming Dean Parrish to UCI.

Sincerely,

Hal Stern
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
Chancellor’s Professor, Department of Statistics