The University of Missouri Law School has finally decided upon the new Dean after a marathon 20 weeks of interviews and meetings. Gary Myers is the new dean for MU Law School.
Before joining as the Dean of MU Law School, Meyers worked as the associate dean of University of Mississippi School of law. Meyer’s stated that he never thought of leaving his position in the University of Mississippi. “I was nominated for the deanship at Missouri, and members of the dean search committee then contacted me and invited me to submit my application … I was honored to be considered for the position,” said Meyers.
Joan Gabel, who was co-chairman of the dean search committee said “We were very impressed with his administrative experience and record of scholarship,” Gabel said. “He had strength in all the areas we identified as critical.”
Meyers was one of the five people who faced the final interview for the post of the Dean.
MU Provost Brian Foster made the final decision, but the interview committee was clearly impressed. Gabel said about Meyers, “Upon speaking with him during the first round of interviews, he had done a lot of research on the school and developed a clear vision of what he wanted the school to become.”
Foster, the final decision-maker told the media, “Gary Myers comes to MU with extensive experience in legal education and administration … His expertise in intellectual property law is extremely appropriate at this time in connection with MU’s strong emphasis on entrepreneurship.”
On the future course of the law school, Myers said that the vision is a collaborative effort “that requires the input of the faculty, administration, alumni, students and other constituencies.” He said that in general, he hoped to realize Missouri’s established position as a flagship state law school with a tradition of producing leaders.
Meyers said, “I hope to expand the law school’s experiential learning opportunities, to continue recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty members and to assemble a diverse and high quality student body.”
Gary Meyers would be officially joining as Missouri University School of Law’s Dean on August 15, and would be moving to Columbia with his family including his wife and two daughters.