New, Steady Hand at Law School

Harvard Law School’s ice skating rink—feverishly hailed as a symbol of former Law School Dean Elena Kagan’s crusade to improving student life—fell victim last year to budget cuts.

Martha L. Minow became dean of the Law School on July 1, 2009, at a time when the institution—rocked by financial uncertainty—was left with an unfinished multi-million dollar construction project at the Northwest Corner and a shaken faculty concerned for the school’s future.

Professors worried that the Law School would be further destabilized by a major transition in the dean’s office.

A year later, faculty and alumni collectively heave a sigh of relief, as the Law School seems to have landed safely on two feet—on better ground, perhaps—with Minow’s steady hand guiding the school forward, even without an ice rink.

“I think it’s been a great year,” Law School professor John C. Coates says. “It’s a tough time for any dean to start given the financial situation.”

Minow’s tenure thus far has been marked by an unusual focus and personal involvement in the academic life of the school, since deans often set aside their own research once they take on administrative responsibilities.

Minow’s ascension represents the installation of a quintessential academic as dean, as reflected in her first year’s priorities: reforming the curriculum, encouraging collaboration between Law School professors and with the University, all while continuing her own teaching and legal research on the side.

Under Minow, offers have been extended to five potential lateral hires, budgets have shrunk only modestly, and the ideological rifts dividing the faculty in past years have not resurfaced.

In filling Kagan’s shoes, Minow has emerged as a well-regarded leader who will build on her predecessor’s reforms while advancing an agenda focused on academic programming and collaboration.

“There was a lot of anxiety about [Kagan’s] departure,” Law School professor John C. P. Goldberg says. “People worried that maybe Dean Kagan was the glue that held the place together.”

NO ROOKIE MISTAKES

Drawing upon her experience as a long-time Law School insider and a member of Kagan’s “kitchen cabinet,” Minow has proven her ability to navigate the egos and politics of the school during what has been a seamless transition, says Law School professor Howell E. Jackson, who served as interim dean.

“She won’t make the rookie mistakes.” Law School professor Robert C. Bordone says.

Before Minow became dean, several faculty members had expressed concerns that she would be too conciliatory, citing her reputation for affability.

But those fears—which her advocates said at the time were unfounded—have not played out, even in the face of difficult choices forced upon her by budget constraints.

Described as “tough-minded,” Minow has proved in the past year—and in her 30 years on the Law School faculty—her willingness her to “fight for things that she thinks are important,” Law School professor John F. Manning ’82 says.

One of only a handful of female professor when she joined the Law School faculty in 1981, Minow has since pushed through various changes—she spearheaded the overhaul of a century-old curriculum at the Law School under Kagan—and established herself as a thoughtful listener as well as an effective doer.

“You don’t come here in the early 80s as a diminutive young woman and succeed the way she succeeded without being pretty tough,” Jackson says. “You can say she’s conciliatory, or you can say she’s from Chicago and she knows how to get things done.”

STAYING IN TOUCH

Minow’s academic bent has been reflected in her vision for the school’s future, as she hopes to shape the curriculum by drawing from multiple disciplines and linking them more closely to the practice of law.

“She is very strongly committed to the idea that the school should be very in touch with the world of practice,” Coates says.

While the Law School has traditionally served as a pipeline for students to prestigious corporate positions, the recent financial crisis resulted in a steep decline in job offers and provided an impetus to rethink the role of the profession.

Echoing a broader trend in the University, Minow’s own resume follows an interdisciplinary approach that is gaining increasing currency in the academic world.

She received a masters degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she continues to lecture, and has taught classes at Harvard College.

As dean, Minow has prioritized the integration of the Law School with other parts of the University by facilitating cross-school teaching and exploring future avenues for collaboration with Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School.

The recent appointment of Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed to a joint position at the Law School, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences is emblematic of Minow’s efforts to build intellectual bridges.

“My sense is that Martha would be really supportive of ways to get faculty here collaborating with other schools,” Bordone says.

MINOW AS SCHOLAR

Despite Minow’s administrative agenda, she has managed to uphold her commitment to teaching and intellectual pursuits.

“It seems one of her goals is to be dean without giving up being an academic,” Manning says. “She thinks of teaching and writing as part of her job.”

Keeping a foot in the classroom allows her to maintain a feel for the school’s pulse.

Though most deans teach occasionally, Minow managed to teach a yearlong course and a class during the winter term—as well as lectured at various universities and completed a book on Brown v. Board of Education to be published this summer—an academic load that Jackson says is unusually heavy.

“It’s a signal to the faculty that that’s what she thinks is important,” Jackson says.

Minow says that the highlight of her week is office hours with her students.

“I love the life I’ve been able to have as a scholar and a teacher here and I want to continue to do that and figuring out how to do that next year is a priority for me,” she says.

—Staff writer Zoe A. Y. Weinberg can be reached at zoe.weinberg@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Elias J. Groll can be reached at egroll@fas.harvard.edu.