Four finalists for the position for the Dean of the UW School of Law were announced Jan. 22.

The Advisory Search Committee, put together by the UW Provost, selected the finalists.

“We had a strong national pool,” said Sandra Archibald, the dean of the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs and co-chair of the committee. “Four finalists were selected by the committee for on-campus interviews.”

The finalists for the position have been making visits to the campus for interviews and public presentations. Candidates Gregory A. Hicks, Steven L. Willborn, and Lawrence Zelenak have already visited the campus, and Mary Anne Bobinski is scheduled to visit tomorrow. The candidates visit the faculty, students and administrators during their time at the UW.

The dean of the law school serves as the chief officer of both administrative and academic life at the school and must be well qualified.

“The committee spent a lot of time thinking about the qualities and competences we were seeking and assuring that these were reflected in the position description,” Archibald said.

The dean, as described in the position description, needs to be a strong leader with a notable record in academic achievements, fiscal management, fundraising potential and commitment in advancing the University’s research and teaching methods.

Archibald said that to promote the position and to find strong applicants, the University hired a search firm that helped distribute an advertisement to national, state and local outlets.

“The UW posted the position description on the University and law school Web site[s] and faculty colleagues contacted their peers around the nation to seek good candidates,” Archibald said.

The former law school dean, W. H.“Joe” Knight, resigned last June amid his performance review and following an ethics complaint.

Hicks, the interim dean of the law school since June 15, was interviewed Jan. 30 and 31. Hicks worked as an associate attorney at the Perkins Coie Law Firm in Seattle, and received a Rhodes Scholarship from Yale University.

Willborn, a dean and distinguished professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), was interviewed Jan. 24 and 25. He has worked as the interim dean for the UNL and has been a full and chaired professor of law at the UNL from 1979-2000.

Zelenak, a Pamela P. Gann professor of law at the Duke Law School, was interviewed Feb. 7 and 8. Zelenak has worked as a professor of law at Columbia Law School, University of North Carolina School of Law and the University of Utah School of Law. He also worked as an associate for the law firm LeSourd and Patten in Seattle from 1979 to 1983.

Bobinski is the dean and a professor for the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law and has also worked as a director for the Health Law & Policy Institute and was a professor at the University of Houston Law Center. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and her juris doctorate (J.D.) at the State University of New York and earned her Master of Laws (LL.M.) at Harvard Law School.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed working with my law school, UW and community colleagues in this selection process,” Archibald said. “We all desire the law school to achieve its potential as one of the best in the country.”

Any further candidates scheduled for interviews will be announced on the Office of the Provost’s Web site.

[Reach reporter Lia Pittmann at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]