A rainy fall evening didn’t dampen the warm applause filling Westminster Hall as the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) community formally welcomed Dean Renée McDonald Hutchins, JD, to the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.
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’ accomplishments and celebrate her new role as dean of the law school.
“We’re here to celebrate,” said UMB President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, addressing Hutchins. “Renée, we’re so glad you’re here with us, and we look forward to the great things you’re going to do with the law school.”
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.
“Leading this law school is about a commitment to our academic values,” said Henry. “It'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 Renée Hutchins, we found someone who boldly and expansively embraces every part of what this law school stands for,” 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.
“That we ended up selecting Renée 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 Renée for having emerged as the candidate of choice because she was the best at the end of the day,” 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. “It 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,” she said.
“I love this school. And I love the people that make up this school,” said Hutchins. “And 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.”
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’s Student Government Association president before graduating, was on the search committee. She said Hutchins is the perfect choice to lead Maryland Carey Law. “She’s a vibrant and lovely person and having someone familiar with the energy and culture of the law school will help us move forward,” said Foster.