Dean of MU Law School to step down at the end of summer

The dean of the University of Missouri Law School has announced his decision to step down at the end of the summer.

Dean Gary Myers announced his decision Friday morning in an e-mail to the law school staff. That e-mail reads as follows:

“Dear Colleagues,

In the last few months, I have had a number of conversations with Provost Garnett Stokes regarding my future plans. I am writing to share with you my decision to step away as Dean of the University of Missouri School of Law at the end of the summer. As I complete my fourth year as Dean, the Law School has established a Center for Intellectual Property & Entrepreneurship, created new experiential opportunities for students to participate in the Veterans Clinic and the Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic, expanded scholarship offerings in the highly competitive law school environment, upgraded its classroom facilities, and hired outstanding faculty members in both lateral and entry-level positions. The Law School continues to build on its many strengths, and I am confident that it will continue to do so in the future.

The Provost will soon be announcing my decision and naming an interim dean who will begin duties onAugust 15, 2016. I look forward to working on two book projects and various interdisciplinary initiatives in the new academic year. Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions. I have enjoyed working with each of you during my time as dean.

Best regards, Gary”

An email, sent later in the morning, from theProvost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs says Myers willjoin the law school faculty in August. It’s not clear in what capacity Myers would work or serve at that point.

On August 15, Ken Dean will take over as interim dean. Dean has been a member of the faculty since 1980 and is currently the senior associate provost. He was previously an associate dean at the school from 1980 to 2004, and has acted as interim or acting dean several times.

According to the MU News Bureau, Myers said his decision to step down is not related to a lawsuit filed this week related to the state’s Sunshine Law, in which Myers is named a defendant. School spokesman Christian Basi said Myers requested, an received a paid sabbatical for the 2016 fall semester, and will return to teach in the 2017 spring semester.

The lawsuit is over an open records request which was apparently never filled. It also names as defendant Josh Hawley, an MU law professor who is running for Missouri Attorney General.

Myers apparently raised concerns to the university nearly three weeks after Kevin Elmer requested the records. Myers thought a request for Hawley’s tenure application would threaten “the integrity of the University’s tenure procedures,” and hoped the system would keep in mind “these important institutional considerations” when sorting through the documents.

Regarding Myers’ announcement to step down, the Law School Foundation Board said, “Dean Myers has done an excellent job at the law school, and his enthusiasm and innovative ideas will be sorely missed…He has certainly left the law school in a very good position for the next dean.”

Law professor Ben Trachtenberg, who also serves as head of MU’s Faculty Council, said he enjoyed his time working with Myers.

“I always got along with him very well,” Trachtenberg told ABC 17 News. “The project that I wanted to do, he did his best to help me out, and I appreciated that when he was able to back me up on that kind of thing.”

The law school dean position marks the fifth one of its kind at Mizzou to change hands in the last 13 months. David Kurpius began his role as dean of the School of Journalism in July 2015. Joan Gabel left the College of Business in August for a spot at the University of South Carolina. Patrick Delafontaine left his spot as dean of the School of Medicine in September, then returned to it in February. Kathryn Chval was named the permanent replacement as dean of the College of Education in March, a month after Daniel Clay left for that same position at the University of Iowa.