Howard University School of Law Dean resigns - Noteworthy news: from staff and news wire reports - Alice Gresham Bullock - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, March 14, 2002

WASHINGTON

Howard University School of Law Dean Alice Gresham Bullock announced last month she would resign from her position, effective June 30.

Following a yearlong sabbatical, she will return to a faculty position at the law school.

Bullock, an alumna of the law school, a tax lawyer and a member of the faculty since 1979, said her decision was a difficult one.

"Few walk away from the type of success that we have enjoyed at Howard University School of Law during the last five years," she says. "I believe, however, that in order to pursue additional professional and personal goals -- all of which I gladly sidelined to address and realize priorities here -- I must return my full attention to them."

"Dean Bullock's tenure as dean of Howard University's School of Law will be remembered for its many successes," says Howard University President H. Patrick Swygert. "Her leadership of the School of Law has been outstanding. I respect her decision and look forward to her return to the faculty."

During Bullock's tenure, the law school received positive site evaluation reports from both the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools for the first time in more than 40 years. The school also witnessed the construction of a $27 million research library, along with the renovation of outdated structures, including the addition of digital SmartClassrooms and the re-engineering and upgrading of the technology infrastructure.

In addition, under Bullock's leadership the pool and credentials of applicants rose well above the national average for African Americans attending law school. And the first-time bar passage rates in Maryland and New York, states in which most Howard law students take the bar exam, rose to 72 percent and 74 percent, respectively, for summer 2001.

"I'm extremely proud of our increasing bar passage rates in New York and Maryland," Bullock says. "I believe it is the result of recruiting and admitting better-qualified applicants who are better prepared ... and that is something on which the faculty and I have worked diligently."