Jerry Dickinson to Lead the University of Pittsburgh School of Law

Jerry Dickinson has been named dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Dickinson, a Pitt Law faculty member for nearly eight years, has served as the school’s vice dean since March 2023. His scholarship specializes in constitutional law, focusing on judicial federalism, civil liberties, state constitutional law, and the constitutional politics of the U.S. Supreme Court. He teaches both first-year and upper-level courses on constitutional law, property law, and race and the law.

Prior to his career in academia, Dickinson practiced law at Reed Smith LLP in Pittsburgh, where he founded the Reed Smith Housing Rights Project, a pro bono initiative supporting tenets facing eviction. He previously clerked for Theodore A. McKee, then-Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, based in Philadelphia.

Dickinson is a honors graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he double-majored in political science and sociology. He holds a master of laws degree from the University of the Witwatersrand School of Law in Johannesburg, South Africa, and a juris doctorate from Fordham University in New York.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Get the JBHE Weekly Bulletin

Receive our weekly email newsletter delivered to your inbox

Latest News

Meta Sued for Discriminatory For-Profit College Marketing Targeted at Black Social Media Users

"This lawsuit aims to make it clear that no corporation — not even a Big Tech company as powerful as Meta—should be allowed to profit from the discriminatory treatment of Black students and consumers," said Damon T. Hewitt, president of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

In Memoriam: Jerry Washington Ward, Jr., 1943-2025

Dr. Ward taught English at Tougaloo College in Mississippi for over three decades. He then served a a distinguished professor at Dillard University in New Orleans for 10 years before his retirement in 2012.

The Education Department Takes Aim at Colleges’ Diversity and Inclusion Programs

The acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the United States Department of Education, warned colleges and universities that they risked losing federal funding if they continued to use race as a factor in a wide range of programs.

Black Americans Represent Just 5 Percent of All Top Staff in the New U.S. Congress

While Black Americans represent nearly 14 percent of the total U.S. population, they represent just 5.5 percent of all top staff positions in the personal offices of U.S. House members and senators.

Featured Jobs