After nearly two years without a permanent leader, Pitt Law has a new dean with a familiar face. Jerry Dickinson, who has been on the law faculty since 2017, will take over as dean of the School of Law on Jan. 15.
A Pittsburgh native, Dickinson, who was named vice dean in March 2023, has built a national, international and local reputation as a constitutional law scholar and civil rights lawyer. He has extensive litigation and transactional pro bono experience in civil rights and civil liberties.
At 38, Dickinson is among the youngest deans in the school’s history. He is the second Black man to lead the law school; William Carter Jr. was dean from 2012-18.
The dean position has been filled by interims since January 2023, when Amy Wildermuth left abruptly after 4.5 years in the role. At that time, Vice Dean Haider Ala Hamoudi was named interim dean. He led the school until June 2023 when he left to become dean of the University of Cincinnati College of Law. Mary Crossley, who served as law school dean from 2005-12, then stepped in as interim.
A search committee — led by Gene Anderson, dean of the Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration, and Carissa Slotterback, dean of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs — was formed in spring 2024 and a national search was conducted.
Dickinson’s teaching and scholarship specialize in constitutional law, civil rights and civil liberties, judicial federalism, property, law and democracy, and race and the law. He has been published in the nation’s top law reviews and cited by U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 3rd and 6th Circuits, amicus briefs filed by members of Congress in federal courts, and in national and international news outlets.
Before joining the Pitt Law faculty, Dickinson practiced at Reed Smith LLP in Pittsburgh, where he founded and coordinated the Housing Rights Project, a pro bono initiative advocating for indigent tenants in eviction proceedings in Allegheny County. He also served as a law clerk for Theodore A. McKee, former chief judge of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia.
He holds a JD from Fordham University; a LLM from the University of the Witwatersrand School of Law in Johannesburg, South Africa; and an AB in political science and sociology from the College of the Holy Cross, in Massachusetts. He also is a former Fulbright scholar to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he studied comparative constitutional law and housing. There he worked as a human rights activist, representing squatters in eviction proceedings.
In 2020, Dickinson ran in the Democratic primary against incumbent Mike Doyle for the 18th congressional district seat. He lost to Doyle, who held the seat until 2022. That year, Dickinson ran in the primary for the new 12th District seat, which replaced the 18th after redistricting and covers many of the city’s southern and southeastern suburbs, as well as the western edge of Westmoreland County. He came in third to then-state Rep. Summer Lee, who won a second term last fall, and Squirrel Hill attorney Steve Irwin.
“I deeply thank Mary Crossley for her exceptional service during her time as interim dean,” Provost Joe McCarthy said in an announcement. “Her efforts on behalf of the school have been both highly effective and excellent.”
— Susan Jones
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