 David S. Walker |
Walker to step down as dean in May
David S. Walker, dean of Drake University Law School and the Dwight D. Opperman distinguished professor of law, has notified the University and the Law School that he will resign as dean at the end of the 2007-08 academic year and return to the faculty.
“I deeply appreciate David Walker’s outstanding service as dean of the Drake University Law School,” Drake Provost Ron Troyer said. “As a consequence of his efforts, the Law School has made significant progress and is in much better position today than it was when he assumed the position. We appreciate his tireless efforts on behalf of the Law School and Drake University.”
Drake will conduct a national search for a new dean with the goal of having that person join the Law School on June 1, 2008, Troyer said.
Walker has been dean since 2003 and previously served as dean from 1987 to 1996. “It has been an incredible privilege and honor to have had the opportunity not only once but twice to lead the Law School,” Walker said. “I am grateful to have been able to work with our faculty, staff and students, our alumni and friends, and the University to move the school forward. It’s a good time for the school to search for the next dean, and I have further personal and professional goals that I want to pursue.”
Among the positive developments during Walker’s second tenure include the development of a new five-year strategic plan in collaboration with the University provost, to move the Drake University Law School to even greater prominence.
Drake University President David Maxwell said, “Dean Walker’s leadership over two terms as dean has had a profound impact on a distinctive, very special law school. We are very grateful for all that he has done as dean, and as a member of the University’s academic leadership team. In the coming year, Dean Walker and I will work closely to solidify the gains that he and his colleagues have achieved, and to develop the resources that will fund the implementation of the Law School’s strategic plan.”
Walker has also helped reorganize the Career Development Office that is now staffed with two attorneys, which has improved student satisfaction rates with the CDO for the last two years. Scholarship assistance for students has increased nearly 100 percent during Walker’s leadership.
Walker plans to take a year’s sabbatical leave in 2008-09 and will return to full-time teaching in fall 2009. Walker joined Drake in 1975 and specializes in corporate and business law. He is a past chair of the Iowa State Bar Association’s Section on Business Law and currently serves as a member of the Council of the Business Law Section. In addition, he is one of Iowa’s three commissioners on Uniform State Laws and has served on or chaired drafting committees on business organizations for the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.