Two More High-Profile Law Profs Lured from George Mason to Chapman
George Mason University law professor Ronald Rotunda is joining Chapman law school along with his wife, Kyndra, an expert on military personnel and disability law.
Rotunda has written a well-known case book on legal ethics and has helped emerging democracies craft constitutions and legal codes. He will help Chapman create a formal concentration in constitutional law, according to the school’s dean, John Eastman. In a press release, he called Rotunda one of the most highly regarded law professors in the country.
The Rotundas are the second and third professors to jump to Chapman law school from George Mason within a year, reports The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. The first was Nobel economist Vernon Smith.
Ronald Rotunda told The BLT that Chapman is pushing to become a major force in legal education, with funding from an increased endowment. He said the school’s student-teacher ratio rivals that of Yale. “We’re very pleased to be joining a university on its way up,” he said.
He added that George Mason “has some problems” but did not elaborate.
Chapman reports on its website that it has moved up to the third tier in the latest rankings in U.S. News & World Report, a “noteworthy achievement for a law school that has been in existence for barely a dozen years.”
The website announcement, posted March 28 before the Rotundas were hired, says the law school has appointed 11 new faculty hires since last year’s U.S. News balloting in an “unprecedented expansion in faculty and programs.”
