William McGeveran Appointed the 12th Dean of the University of Minnesota Law School

After a University-wide search committee conducted a national search that resulted in extensive screenings and three finalist candidates, the University of Minnesota Law School is thrilled to announce the appointment of William McGeveran, Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett Professor of Law, as the next dean of Minnesota Law, effective June 17, 2024. Executive Vice President and Provost Rachel T.A. Croson announced McGeveran’s appointment in an email to the University of Minnesota community on May 13. 

As dean, McGeveran will be the chief executive officer and chief academic officer of  Minnesota Law. He will provide strategic and intellectual leadership and administrative oversight for the Law School. He will also collaborate with the University of Minnesota President’s office, the Office of the Executive Vice President & Provost, and other University deans to advance the broader educational mission of the University of Minnesota. 

In her email, Provost Croson writes, “Building on the Law School’s strengths and guided by the strategic priorities of the University, [Bill] will serve as an effective advocate and bridge builder with the University and broader community; cultivate and support faculty, students, and staff; and meet the challenges and changes facing legal education and the profession.”

McGeveran, who served as Minnesota Law’s interim dean for the 2023-24 academic year, brings 18 years of experience as a faculty member at the Law School, where he also served as associate dean for academic affairs from 2018 to 2022. He is passionate about Minnesota Law’s mission to provide a transformative legal education to law students and holds the deepest regard and enthusiasm for the Minnesota Law community. 

“This past year I have tremendously enjoyed working with our exceptional students, faculty, staff, and alumni. I have always loved this place, but I got to appreciate it in a new way as interim dean,” says McGeveran. “I am thrilled to take on this role long-term and join with everyone to achieve some new ambitious goals for Minnesota Law.”

McGeveran’s scholarship focuses on the law governing digital identity and privacy, ranging from trademark parodies to data security to social media. He has taught Civil Procedure, Law in Practice, Trademark Law, and Data Privacy Law. He was formerly a resident fellow at the University of Minnesota Institute of Advanced Study and a visiting professor at University College Dublin School of Law. He is an affiliated professor at the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

He serves on the advisory boards of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Future of Privacy Forum and was the first reporter for the Uniform Law Commission’s Uniform Personal Data Protection Act.

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.

Watch Minnesota Law’s website in the coming months for more information about fall events welcoming William McGeveran as the next dean of the University of Minnesota Law School.