UMB Community Welcomes Dean Ren茅e Hutchins
A rainy fall evening didn鈥檛 dampen the warm applause filling Westminster Hall as the 91大神, Baltimore (UMB) community formally welcomed Dean Ren茅e McDonald Hutchins, JD, to the .
Dean Hutchins greets Chancellor Jay Perman at her welcome reception at Westminster Hall.
Law school professors, students, and alumni as well as local attorneys and judges all turned out to recognize Hutchins鈥� accomplishments and celebrate her new role as dean of the law school.
鈥淲e鈥檙e here to celebrate,鈥� said UMB President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, addressing Hutchins. 鈥淩en茅e, we鈥檙e so glad you鈥檙e here with us, and we look forward to the great things you鈥檙e going to do with the law school.鈥�
National search committee co-chair Leslie Meltzer Henry, JD, professor, Maryland Carey Law, said looking for the next leader of the law school was a mission the committee took seriously.
鈥淟eading this law school is about a commitment to our academic values,鈥� said Henry. 鈥淚t's about our commitment to our social justice mission. It's about our commitment to our community. It's about passion and drive for what we do, and for who we are. And it's about having the courage and the confidence to make decisions in challenging times.
"In Ren茅e Hutchins, we found someone who boldly and expansively embraces every part of what this law school stands for,鈥� she continued.
Roger J. Ward, EdD, JD, MSL, MPA, provost, executive vice president, and dean of the Graduate School, served as search committee co-chair alongside Henry. He said there was a deep commitment from the group to find the right dean.
鈥淭hat we ended up selecting Ren茅e is a testament to the people who invested the time and effort into the search because they care so deeply for the school, and to Ren茅e for having emerged as the candidate of choice because she was the best at the end of the day,鈥� said Ward.
Hutchins returns to Maryland Carey Law after a three-year deanship at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. Previously, she spent 14 years on the Maryland Carey Law faculty and was the Jacob A. France Professor of Public Interest Law and co-director of the Clinical Law Program.
Calling her new position "the best deanship in the country," Hutchins praised the faculty and students at the law school. 鈥淚t is such a privilege for me to be able to lead this remarkable, talented team of amazing human beings who watched my kids grow up in the hallways,鈥� she said.
鈥淚 love this school. And I love the people that make up this school,鈥� said Hutchins. 鈥淎nd so, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for letting me be a part of you again, because it feels like coming home.鈥�
Hutchins originally came to Maryland Carey Law in 2004, founding and teaching the Appellate and Post-Conviction Advocacy Clinic, as well as traditional doctrinal courses and advanced seminars. In 2014, she rose to the position of co-director of the Clinical Law Program.
She is a leading expert on the Fourth Amendment and criminal appellate practice. Her legal scholarship, which sits at the intersection of criminal procedure and social science, has been published in leading law journals and cited by numerous U.S. Courts of Appeals and state appellate courts.
Maya Foster, JD '22, who served as the law school鈥檚 Student Government Association president before graduating, was on the search committee. She said Hutchins is the perfect choice to lead Maryland Carey Law. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a vibrant and lovely person and having someone familiar with the energy and culture of the law school will help us move forward,鈥� said Foster.
