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June 24, 2002

Emory's Tom Arthur named law school dean

By Elaine Justice


Thomas Arthur, interim vice provost for international affairs, has been named dean of the School of Law, President Bill Chace announced on June 11.

“On behalf of the University and the law school, I am delighted that Tom Arthur has accepted my invitation to serve as dean of the school and successor to Dean Howard Hunter,” Chace said. “An extraordinary candidate emerging from the search process, he brings a wealth of experience to the position. He has a keen intellect, a judicious manner and a tenacious ambition. I am convinced he will bring the school to even greater prominence and well-being.”

“I’m very pleased with the confidence President Chace has shown in me,” Arthur said. “I’m even more gratified at the affection and respect I’ve received from my colleagues at the law school throughout this process —it’s a great honor when you consider that I’ve known and worked with many of them for the last 10, 15 and even 20 years. I’m looking forward to building the law school of the 21st century with the help of my faculty and staff colleagues, our students and our many wonderful alumni and friends in the bar.”

Arthur, 55, who also had been serving concurrently as interim director of Emory’s Halle Institute for Global Learning, has been a member of the law school faculty since 1982. From 1989–97 he served as the school’s associate dean for academic affairs and was co-director of the American Law Center in Moscow in 1996 and 1997.

Prior to his tenure at Emory, Arthur was a partner at the Washington law firm of Kirkland & Ellis. In Atlanta, Arthur served as counsel to Trotter, Smith & Jacobs from 1984–92.

“I am excited about Tom Arthur’s appointment on many levels,” said Ben Johnson, chair of the Board of Trustees and a managing partner at Alston & Bird in Atlanta. “He understands the aspirations of great universities, having spent 20 years in positions of significant responsibility at Emory.

“He understands the profession as few law school deans in America do,” Johnson continued. “[Arthur] understands the increasingly global dimensions of the law and legal education, having served as co-director of the school’s American Law Center and interim director of the Halle Institute. I pledge myself to assisting Tom in every way possible as he leads Emory’s law school to greater achievements and even higher levels of national visibility and respect.”

Richard Freer, associate dean of faculty at the law school and head of the dean’s search committee, said Arthur “is perfectly poised to lead the school as we seize the positive momentum generated this year by interim Dean Peter Hay.”

Freer added that Arthur “is a respected scholar and an outstanding teacher.”

“He has been a leader on this faculty for many years in many ways, and has the respect and affection of the entire community,” Freer said. “The future looks very bright.”

A specialist in antitrust, civil procedure and administrative law, Arthur has been on the executive committee of the antitrust section of the Association of American Law Schools. Several of his articles are regarded as landmarks, and are continually cited in monographs, casebooks and treatises on both sides of the Atlantic.

Arthur, a native of Roanoke, Va., is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Duke University, and holds a J.D. degree from Yale Law School.