UA law college dean set to step down

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Joel Seligman

Joel Seligman said he will resign for "family considerations." He would not elaborate but said he has entered his name into nationwide dean searches in an effort to find a new employer.

"I have no plans yet," Seligman said yesterday, adding that he may leave the city of Tucson.

Seligman has been dean of the University of Arizona's law college since 1995. Before his tenure at the UA, he was a law professor at other schools for 17 years.

"I'm probably the luckiest dean in the country," Seligman said.

He attributes some of his luck to the donations of UA alumnus James E. Rogers, who yesterday pledged $115 million to the law college.

"I'm sure he (Rogers) would rather that I stay," Seligman said. "He did me a great favor."

UA President Peter Likins praised Seligman for his work at the college, saying he has done a "super job."

"Joel has been a superb dean in every way," Likins said last night from Phoenix. "He leaves a legacy that will literally last forever."

Likins said he has known about Seligman's plan to leave the UA for some time.

"His personal concerns have outweighed his professional commitments to this place as they should," Likins said. "My family comes first too."

Rogers said he is "disappointed" that Seligman will leave in June, but he trusts the UA to find a qualified replacement.

"He and I are very close," Rogers said last night from Helena, Mont. "I think they'll be able to attract a top-rate dean who's both a scholar and a leader."

UA Provost Paul Sypherd said he regards Seligman as a friend and colleague.

"I just marveled at the energy and the foresight that Dean Seligman has had in the College of Law," Sypherd said. "I can only wish him the very best. He's apparently determined to leave the University of Arizona."

Seligman leads 29 full-time faculty members at the law college, which was founded in 1915.

A search committee to fill the position will be formed next week, and the process to find a new dean will begin "immediately," Sypherd said.

He said Seligman is bound to be at the top of other universities' recruiting lists.

"He has certainly made a name for himself in recruiting great faculty," Sypherd said. "I think he'll be at the head of many searches throughout the United States."

David J. Cieslak can be reached via e-mail at David.J.Cieslak@wildcat.arizona.edu.