Mary A. Crossley, the dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, will step down… Mary A. Crossley, the dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, will step down and resume her role as a researcher and professor.

Crossley, who has been dean of Pitt’s Law School since 2005, announced her resignation on May 5, 2011, and it will take effect next July, according to a statement on Pitt’s web site. Crossley will return to her role as a professor at the law school.

During Crossley’s six years as dean, she has taken up a number of initiatives in the law school.

She began the Pitt School  of Law’s Washington, D.C. program in order to increase employment and alumni outreach. The program also helps to assist students with externships with government agencies and nonprofit organizations.

A search committee will be formed within the next few weeks in order to select Dean Crossley’s successor by the spring of 2012, according to the statement.

Before coming to Pitt, Crossley was the Florida Bar Health Law Section Professor of Law at Florida State University. Prior to that she was on the faculty at the University of California, Hastings College of Law. She has taught courses in Health Law, Bioethics and Law, Family Law, Torts, and Contracts.