Professor William McGeveran Named Interim Dean of Minnesota Law

Professor William McGeveran, Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett Professor of Law, has been named interim dean of Minnesota Law, effective July 1, 2023.

In an announcement to Law School faculty and staff, University of Minnesota Executive Vice President and Provost Rachel T.A. Croson announced that Professor McGeveran will “serve as the chief academic and executive officer for the [Law School], providing collaborative leadership that will be invaluable as we prepare to launch a national search in late summer with the goal to have a new permanent dean in place by summer 2024.”

Professor McGeveran, who is a leading scholar specializing in information law, including data privacy, intellectual property, communications and technology, and free speech, previously served as Minnesota Law’s associate dean for academic affairs from 2018–22. His scholarship focuses on legal and other rules governing digital identity and privacy, ranging from online impersonation to data security to social media. He has taught Civil Procedure, Law in Practice, Trademark Law, and Data Privacy Law.

“The law school is in such a good position after Garry Jenkins’ deanship,” McGeveran said. “I look forward to a year where everyone here works together to extend and expand those successes.”

Provost Croson also said that “[McGeveran] will provide consensus-driven leadership and stability for everyone in the Law School community. Over the coming year, he will ensure the priorities of the Law School’s mission continue with strategic hiring, DEI, admissions, advancement, and community building—all of which require strong partnerships with the school’s leadership, faculty, staff, students, and alumni.”

McGeveran earned a J.D., magna cum laude, from New York University and a B.A., magna cum laude, in political science from Carleton College. Prior to coming to the University of Minnesota in 2006, McGeveran was a resident fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School. He previously clerked for Judge Sandra Lynch on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and practiced as an intellectual property litigator at Foley Hoag LLP in Boston. Before law school, McGeveran worked in national politics for seven years, including as a senior legislative aide to then-Rep. Charles Schumer.

Professor McGeveran will serve as interim dean for the upcoming academic year while the Provost and the University conduct a national search for a permanent dean. As announced earlier this spring, Dean Garry W. Jenkins, William S. Pattee Professor of Law, is departing the University of Minnesota Law School in June to assume the presidency of Bates College.