April 5, 2023
Dear Colleagues,
As we near the end of the academic year, I am writing to share that Professor Mary Crossley will step into the role of interim dean of the School of Law effective July 1, 2023.
But first, I must thank Professor Haider Ala Hamoudi for his commendable, generous service during his time as interim dean. When Haider graciously accepted the appointment earlier this year, I promised him that he could begin a long-awaited and much overdue sabbatical at the end of June. I am sincerely grateful for Haider’s leadership during this time.
I am also extremely appreciative that Mary has agreed to accept this assignment.
Mary has deep expertise and a long history at Pitt. She joined Pitt in 2005 as a Professor of Law and Dean and served as dean of Pitt Law through 2012. During that time, she developed initiatives aimed at curricular reform, innovation programming, and promoting diversity. She was chosen as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Public Health Law Scholar in Residence in 2013 and, through the following two years, served as a Faculty Mentor for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Public Health Law Education Faculty Fellowship Program.
As a John E. Murray Faculty Scholar and Director of the Health Law Program at Pitt Law, Mary is highly regarded for her scholarship in disability and health law, with numerous articles and presentations focused on inequality in health care financing and delivery. Her book Embodied Injustice: Race, Disability, and Health was released by Cambridge University Press in 2022.
Mary is an elected member of the American Law Institute and an appointed member of the Pennsylvania State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She serves on the boards for AccessLex Institute and the American Occupational Therapy Association and is a long-term member of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of California, and the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics.
Mary holds a JD from Vanderbilt University and a BA in history from the University of Virginia.
I look forward to continuing to support the School of Law as it prepares the path forward for a search for the next permanent dean, which will begin in the fall.
Best,
Ann
Ann E. Cudd
Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor
Professor of Philosophy
University of Pittsburgh