Pitt law school announces new dean

The University of Pittsburgh’s School of Law named Amy Wildermuth, the associate vice president for faculty and academic affairs at the University of Utah, as the school’s new dean.

According to a Tuesday press release, Provost Patricia Beeson said Wildermuth will begin her deanship July 1. She is set to take over William M. Carter Jr.’s job, as he is stepping down when the 2017-2018 academic year ends. After six years as the law school’s dean, Carter decided in June 2017 to return to teaching full-time.

“While a number of outstanding candidates emerged during our search, Professor Wildermuth is truly exceptional and uniquely qualified to serve as the next dean of the School of Law,” Beeson said in the release.

Wildermuth graduated from the University of Illinois with a law degree and a master’s degree in environmental engineering. She also holds bachelor’s degrees in both history and engineering from Washington University in St. Louis.

“She is unequivocally committed to enhancing legal education,” Beeson said, “and will draw upon her administrative, research and practice experience to lead Pitt Law in its next phase of excellence.”

Chancellor Patrick Gallagher also commented in the release on hiring Wildermuth, saying she “did more than just satisfy this ambitious requirement — she vastly exceeded it.”

“I am thrilled that she has chosen the University of Pittsburgh and excited to watch Pitt Law continue to evolve and thrive under her watch,” Gallagher said.

The new dean has experience as the University of Utah’s chief sustainability officer and as a professor in the S.J. Quinney College of Law. She has also previously clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, Judge Guido Calabresi of the Second Circuit and Judge Harry T. Edwards of the D.C. Circuit. Wildermuth earned the S.J. Quinney College of Law Early Career Faculty Award in 2007, the Peter W. Billings Excellence in Teaching Award in 2009 and the Faculty Service Award in 2011.

Wildermuth cited Pitt’s law school’s faculty as one of the reasons she was impressed by Pitt. She said the students and the level of education coming out of Pitt are strengths as well.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be a part of such an outstanding place and look forward to working with the entire Pitt community as we begin the next exciting chapter in the law school’s history,” Wildermuth said.