Jeffrey Lehman, dean of the University of Michigan Law School, will become president of Cornell University in July.
Cornell University's Board of Trustees has appointed Jeffrey Lehman, dean of the University of Michigan Law School, as its 11th president, effective July 1, 2003. He will succeed Hunter Rawlings, currently the chair of both the Association of American Universities and the Council of Ivy League Presidents, who has been president of Cornell since 1995. In March 2002, President Rawlings announced his intention to step down as president on June 30, 2003. He will assume a full-time professorship in Cornell University's Department of Classics.
A national leader in higher education, Dean Lehman, 46, will be the first Cornell alumnus to serve as president of the university. The distinguished scholar received an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Cornell University in 1977. He also holds a master's degree in public policy from the University of Michigan Institute of Public Policy Studies and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.
Dr. Antonio Gotto, dean of Weill Medical College, said, "Mr. Lehman's impressive achievements, experience and abilities make him well-suited for the position of president of Cornell University. I am also pleased that Hunter Rawlings will remain at Cornell as a professor."
Mr. Lehman has served as dean of the University of Michigan Law School since 1994. He has been regarded as a strong advocate for affirmative action in university admissions and is recognized by his peers for his understanding of the public responsibilities of American universities in regard to educational policy. Earlier in his career at the University of Michigan, Mr. Lehman, who is currently president of the American Law Deans Association, helped create the Michigan Law School's Program in Legal Assistance for Urban Communities, a clinical program that offers students an opportunity to offer technical assistance to community groups engaged in economic development.
Mr. Lehman said, "It is a great honor to assume the presidency of a university that is one of New York's signal contributions to the world. Cornell's founding vision was remarkable: to be nonsectarian, coeducational, racially integrated, and at the same time to stand proudly among our nation's superb research universities. Today, Cornell remains true to that founding vision, as its faculty, students and graduates provide global leadership in every domain of our society. I am enthusiastic about working with everyone who cares about Cornell to help realize the full measure of our aspirations."
President Rawlings added: "The appointment of Jeff Lehman is good news for all Cornellians. He will be a terrific leader for Cornell, bringing precisely the right combination of personal and professional qualifications to lead Cornell for many years to come."
A native New Yorker, Mr. Lehman was born in Bronxville and grew up in White Plains and Bethesda, Md. After completing his formal education, he served as law clerk to Chief Judge Frank M. Coffin of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and then as law clerk to Associate Justice John Paul Stevens of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was an associate in the Washington, D.C., law firm Caplin & Drysdale before joining the Michigan faculty in 1987. Mr. Lehman has taught at the Yale Law School and at the University of Paris. Mr. Lehman is a trustee of the Skadden Fellowship Foundation, and in 1995, the National Law Journal named him one of 40 "Rising Stars in the Law."