Dear Colleagues,

 

I write today to let you know that Donald B. Tobin, JD, has decided to step down as dean of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law at the end of the academic year in 2022. He will return to full-time teaching as a member of the faculty. He has served as dean of the Carey School of Law since 2014. 

 

Dean Tobin’s commitment to training great civic-minded lawyers and providing access to justice for those in need led him to introduce a number of key initiatives that help set Maryland’s top law school apart from the rest. Among these are the Chacón Center for Immigrant Justice, which opened in spring 2021, and the Erin Levitas Initiative for Sexual Assault Prevention. Under Dean Tobin’s leadership, the law school also expanded its highly ranked Clinical Law Program, launched the Criminal Defense Clinic, and will soon establish a professorship in consumer law. 

 

With a passion for empowering students to succeed, Dean Tobin oversaw the doubling of scholarship spending, enabling the law school to attract the highest caliber students. The 2021 incoming class, with a median undergraduate GPA of 3.7, is one of the most highly qualified in the law school’s history. In addition, Dean Tobin has been intentional in nurturing an atmosphere where diversity of thought thrives, and the law school has achieved a valuable mix of faculty who are enriching the student experience with their scholarly output, dynamic teaching, and community engagement. Dean Tobin’s excellent leadership and stewardship of the school’s resources through critical times, most recently during the COVID-19 pandemic, have strengthened and unified the school.

 

Members of the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) senior leadership team — myself included — always appreciate his collegiality and keen insight. Please join me in thanking Dean Tobin for his wonderful service to UMB and wishing him well as he transitions out of the deanship and into the next phase of his career at the Carey School of Law. A national search for a new law school dean will commence immediately, and I will keep you informed. 

 

Sincerely,

 

President