Roger A. Fairfax, Jr. was named dean of the Howard University School of Law, effective July 1, 2024. Fairfax is a prominent legal scholar, educator, and nationally recognized expert on criminal justice and diversity in the legal profession.
Fairfax currently serves as dean of the American University Washington College of Law. Earlier, he was senior associate dean for academic affairs, Patricia Roberts Harris Research Professor of Law, and founding director of the Criminal Law & Policy Initiative at George Washington University Law School.
“I have long admired and championed the Howard University School of Law’s indispensable mission, and I am humbled by the opportunity to steward and lead this extraordinary community,” said Fairfax. “It will be a tremendous honor at this critical time to follow in the footsteps of those who have assumed the solemn responsibility of leading one of the most consequential institutions in the history of legal education and the legal profession.”
Fairfax is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, where he was an NAACP Legal Defense Fund Scholar and an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He also holds a master’s degree from the University of London.
