Henry Hitchcock
Dean, 1867-1870 and 1878-1881
The Law Department’s first dean, Henry Hitchcock was a leading legal scholar and classicist who later became president of the American Bar Association. Young Hitchcock actively opposed slavery and participated in the provisional Missouri state government during the Civil War. Through great effort, he found funds to secure the first full-time salaried professor, William Gardiner Hammond, who became dean in 1881. Hitchcock also established the Practice Court, the predecessor to what is now our school’s award-winning Trial and Advocacy Program.
George M. Stewart
Acting Dean, 1870 and Dean, 1871-1878
During Stewart’s tenure, the Law Department moved twice, seeking larger facilities in Downtown St. Louis. The department also graduated the first woman student, Phoebe Couzins, in 1871. Stewart spent much of his deanship collaborating with Hitchcock, who continued to work with the Law Department and managed its financial affairs.
William Gardiner Hammond
Dean, 1881-1894
Noted scholar William Gardiner Hammond had a strong, high-minded view of legal education. He expanded the Law Department’s curriculum to include more classes and a broader array of topics. He also worked to expand the faculty and student body. Hammond also led the effort to raise admissions standards, encouraging applicants to have graduated from a reputable secondary school or college. The first African American student, Walter Moran Farmer, graduated under his tenure.
William Samuel Curtis
Dean, 1894-1915
An 1876 graduate of Washington University’s Law Department, William Samuel Curtis had a deep-seated interest in law school accreditation and played an important role in the founding of the Association of American Law Schools, of which Washington University was a charter member. Curtis was also instrumental in increasing the law program’s course of study from two to three years.
Richard L. Goode
Dean, 1915-1919 and 1921-1926
Richard L. Goode’s strong legal reputation, talent for teaching, and knack for recruiting great faculty helped propel WashU Law’s reputation and profile. Between Goode’s two deanships, he served as a judge on the Missouri Supreme Court.
Tyrrell Williams
Acting Dean, 1919-1921, 1926-1927, and 1935-1936
A graduate of the Law Department in 1900, Tyrrell Williams served three terms as acting dean, each time turning down a full-time deanship because of his ongoing interest in teaching. Williams made a definitive mark on the School of Law as a popular professor and leader. Today, he is the namesake of an endowed professorship and of the Tyrrell Williams speaker series, which brings distinguished professionals and public figures to the law school.
William G. Hale
Dean, 1927-1930
William G. Hale, a graduate of Harvard Law School, advocated for higher law school admissions standards in the wake of new law schools opening up across the country and increasing Bar admission standards. He also enlarged the library’s facilities and expanded its holdings.
Wiley Blount Rutledge, Jr.
Acting Dean, 1930-1931 and Dean, 1931-1935
Wiley Blount Rutledge, Jr. set a strong tone of public service at the law school and did much to widen the school’s influence within the Bar and other law schools. He joined the law school as a faculty member in 1926 and served as dean soon thereafter. Rutledge had a distinguished judicial career following his deanship, first as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeal for the District of Columbia, and then as a justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Joseph A. McClain, Jr.
Dean, 1936-1942
During Joseph A. McClain, Jr.’s deanship the number of full-time faculty members increased to nine, a four-year curriculum was established, and before the start of World War II enrollment reached 168. McClain also significantly increased the law library’s collection to more than 55,000 books, including several rare volumes.
Warner Fuller
Acting Dean, 1942-1944 and Dean, 1944-1945
A member of the faculty who taught business and corporate law, Warner Fuller served as dean during World War II, at which time enrollment fluctuated dramatically. Fuller initiated an accelerated wartime program of two years plus two summer terms, which eventually gave way to the traditional three-year curriculum. Fuller also acquired rare volumes for the law library, including a first edition of Sir William Blackstone’s “Commentaries on the Laws of England.” After the war, he became vice president and general counsel of the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis.
Wayne LaSalle Townsend
Dean, 1945-1950
Wayne LaSalle Townsend established the law student honor system, reactivated the “Washington University Law Quarterly,” and expanded the law library’s British materials collection. After five years as dean, he stepped down from his deanship to return to full-time teaching, specializing in contracts and corporations.
Thomas Roady
Acting Dean, 1950-1951
University leaders recruited Thomas Roady, a faculty member at the University of Tennessee, to serve as acting dean at Washington University School of Law in 1950. Roady later left the law school to serve as associate dean of law at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and eventually became a presiding judge on the Circuit Court of Greene County in Illinois.
John Ritchie III
Dean, 1951-1953
John Ritchie III, a well-known property law teacher, joined the law school from the University of Virginia School of Law. He expanded the full-time faculty, enabling professors to reduce teaching loads and devote more time to research and scholarship. Ritchie left the school to become dean at the University of Wisconsin Law School, and later dean at Northwestern University School of Law.
Milton D. Green
Dean, 1953-1959
Milton D. Green’s six-year deanship included hiring several distinguished scholars, most significantly Hiram Lesar in 1957. Lesar also later served as dean. Green also hired Jean Ashman, the law school’s librarian, and first woman to hold faculty rank at the School of Law. Green left in 1959 to join New York University School of Law, and later the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law.
William Catron Jones
Acting Dean, 1959-1960
William Catron Jones joined the faculty in 1955 and served as assistant dean under Milton D. Green before succeeding him as acting dean in 1959. An internationally-acclaimed scholar of Chinese law, Jones later became a lecturer for the International Association for Teaching Comparative Law, a visiting scholar at various universities around the world, and a Fulbright lecturer at Wuhan University. Today, the William C. Jones Lecture Series honors his work, jointly sponsored by the School of Law, the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute, and East Asian Studies in Arts & Sciences.
Hiram Henry Lesar
Dean, 1960-1972
Hiram Henry Lesar, a scholar in the area of landlord-tenant law, presided over increased student enrollment and hired a new generation of outstanding faculty members, including David Becker, Michael Greenfield, Richard Helmholz, Daniel Mandelker, and A. Peter Mutharika, the law school’s first Black faculty member. Lesar also oversaw the construction of the law school’s new location, Mudd Hall. After 12 years, Lesar left to become dean of the new law school at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.
Lewis “Red” Mills, LLB ‘54
Acting Dean, 1972-1973
Lewis “Red” Mills, one of the most respected members of the faculty, served as acting dean for six months before stepping down to join a private law firm. A Washington University School of Law alumnus, Mills eventually retired from Thompson Coburn LLP in St. Louis, where he specialized in litigation related to employee benefits and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
Edward “Tad” Foote II
Dean, 1973-1980
Edward “Tad” Foote II joined the law school after serving as vice chancellor, general counsel, and secretary to Washington University’s Board of Trustees. In his seven-year term as dean, he significantly strengthened and increased the faculty, expanded efforts to recruit talented students, and launched the Clinical Education Program. In 1980-81, Foote left the law school to serve as special adviser to Chancellor William Danforth and the Board of Trustees, and later became president of the University of Miami.
Hodge O’Neal
Dean, 1980-1985
Hodge O’Neal, the George Alexander Madill Professor of Law at Washington University School of Law, was named dean in 1980. A scholar on close corporations, minority shareholder rights and abuses, and corporate charters, O’Neal established the Scholars in Law Program. Today, the F. Hodge O’Neal Corporate Law Award is presented to the graduating student with the highest grade in the corporations course.
Philip D. Shelton, JD ‘72
Acting Dean, 1985-1987
A 1972 alumnus of the School of Law, Philip D. Shelton served as associate dean before assuming the role of acting dean for two years. Shelton was known for his success in alumni relations, fundraising, and minority recruitment. He later became dean of the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University and served as president and executive director of the Law School Admission Council. Today, he is an active member of the School of Law’s Board of Advisors.
Dorsey D. Ellis, Jr.
Dean, 1987-1998
One of Dean Dorsey D. Ellis, Jr.’s most impressive feats was garnering support to construct Anheuser-Busch Hall, a state-of-the-art facility and the School of Law’s current location. Friends and colleagues have called Anheuser-Busch Hall a testament to Ellis’ dedication and commitment to the law school. Ellis also oversaw an increase in the size, stature, and diversity of the school’s student body, faculty, and cross-disciplinary programs.
Daniel L. Keating
Acting Dean, 1998-1999, 2005, and 2013-2014
Professor Daniel L. Keating served three terms as acting dean of the School of Law during critical periods of transition. Currently the Tyrrell Williams Professor of Law, he is a nationally-recognized expert in bankruptcy, commercial law, and UCC Article 2. During his time as dean, Keating also made valuable enhancements to the School of Law’s International Law Program, Clinical Education Program, and faculty research stipend initiative. He also launched the Public Interest Law & Policy Speaker Series, which to this day is one of the school’s most successful event programs.
Joel Seligman
Dean, 1999-2005
A noted scholar in the field of securities law, Joel Seligman came to WashU Law in 1999 from the University of Arizona Law School to serve as dean in 1999. Under his tenure, the School of Law earned its first top 20 U.S. News & World Report ranking and successfully completed a $20 million capital campaign. Seligman also founded the Webster Society, named in honor of Judge William D. Webster, JD ‘49, which awards full scholarships to students with strong academic credentials and commitment to public service.
Kent Syverud
Dean, 2005-2013
Kent Syverud came to WashU Law after serving as dean of Vanderbilt University’s School of Law. A dedicated teacher, he maintained a full teaching load throughout his deanship. He updated the School of Law’s curriculum, added January intersession courses, a required negotiation course for first-year JD students, and an online master’s degree program. Syverud also oversaw the school’s expansion into Seigle Hall, the renovation of Anheuser-Busch Hall, and the installation of a stunning glass canopy over Crowder Courtyard.
Nancy Staudt
Dean, 2014-2021
As the School of Law’s 25th and first woman dean, Nancy Staudt assumed her deanship at a time of national crisis, economic downturn, and a collapse in the market for lawyers, leading to decreased numbers of law school applicants. Law schools everywhere faced serious financial difficulties, including WashU Law. She was tasked with stabilizing the school’s finances while retaining its high ranking and improving morale among faculty and staff. Within four years, Staudt and her team accomplished these goals. The School of Law began thriving again, with increased applications, terrific job placement for students, and the highest ranking in the school’s history (#16). Staudt served on WashU Law’s faculty from 2000-06 and as the Howard and Caroline Cayne Distinguished Professor of Law. She left in 2021 to become dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School and vice president of Innovation at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California.
Russell K. Osgood
Dean 2021-2024
Professor Russell K. Osgood served as a visiting professor at WashU Law prior to his deanship, and has an extensive background in university administration. He served as president of Grinnell College from July 1998 to July 2010, where he also was a professor of history and political science, and as dean of Cornell Law School from 1988 to 1998. He began his tenure as acting dean in 2021. Under his tenure, the School of Law has continued its upward trajectory of growth – so much so that he was asked to serve as dean through 2024.