DATE: October 7, 2021
TO:  The NYU Law School Community
FROM: President Andrew Hamilton, Provost Katherine Fleming and David Tanner, Chair, NYU Law School Board of Trustees

Deans at NYU go through periodic reviews, which typically include outside evaluators. In Trevor’s case, the evaluators — all people of stature in the legal education community — concluded their work by saying that “NYU is exceedingly fortunate to have Trevor Morrison as dean of its law school.” And so we have been.

Recently, Trevor shared with us the news he shared with you earlier today: that he plans to step down as dean and, following a sabbatical year, return to the faculty.

Since being named the Law School’s dean in 2013, he has compiled an extraordinary record of success — advancing the Law School’s scholarly strength, recruiting superb students, promoting diversity, upholding the cause of social justice, creating new programs and new research centers to keep the school and the law at the forefront of important social change, fostering an atmosphere of intellectual inquiry and vibrancy within the school, supporting the pursuit of public service law, and in fundraising, to name just a few of his many areas of accomplishment.

Thoughtful and straightforward, principled and down-to-earth, enterprising and accessible, Trevor has always been ambitious for the School, but his impact has stretched far beyond it. Recruiters note that Law School students frequently mention during interviews how much they like and admire him. He is generous with his wise counsel during University leadership team discussions; is respected and liked among his dean colleagues for his clarity and cogency, and for his heartfelt collegiality; and is recognized nationally for his sharp insights into the law, the Constitution, and the courts, as was tellingly demonstrated by his appointment by President Biden to serve on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.

If the mark of a successful deanship is whether the school is in a better place at the end than at the beginning of one’s service, then Trevor’s has been a great and proud feat.

Trevor has agreed to serve until June 1, 2022, which will enable us to conduct a search for a successor. We shall write again soon with more detail about the search process.

For now, please join us in thanking Trevor for his outstanding service as dean.