Summary: After a successful 15-year career as dean of Seton Hall’s Law School, Pat Hobbs is stepping down.
Seton Hall’s Law School, the only private law school in New Jersey, is about to lose a great dean. Pat Hobbs is stepping down after over 15 years of stellar work lifting the law school from a third tier to #68 among U.S. law schools.
“On every cylinder the law school is doing incredibly well right now,” said Hobbs. “This is the time when you give somebody else the privilege of running Seton Hall Law School.”
Aiming to leave on a high note, Hobbs will take his sabbatical and return to the law school as a professor.
Seton Hall’s statement on the matter includes the words:
“Dean Hobbs leaves behind a legacy characterized by increasing academic excellence and career success for Seton Hall Law graduates. He heightened the academic profile of the student body and successfully recruited and retained faculty who have built national and international reputations. As a result, the Law School has risen in national prominence, reflected in its climb from the third tier of U.S News and World Report rankings to #68 among all law schools nationwide. The school has achieved top fifty rankings in The National Law Journal and Above the Law.”
One keynote of his career was his work as Seton Hall’s interim Athletic Director during 2009-2011, hiring Kevin Willard and Anne Donovan for their athletic department.
He was also moved to the position of ombudsman in Gov. Chris Christie’s office in the wake of the George Washington Bridge scandal.
His influence as Dean will be long lasting. As the school said, “Dean Hobbs has been and will continue to be a presence in the community and statewide.”
They also “acknowledge and thank Dean Hobbs for his leadership and commitment to faculty and students at the Law School, for his outreach to alumni, and his service to the university.”