Pritzker School of Law Dean Hari Osofsky will step down from her role atop one of the country’s top law schools this summer to lead two Pritzker initiatives, Northwestern announced Wednesday.
“At this time of crisis for the issues that I have spent my career on — and after eight years of being a dean at two outstanding universities — it feels urgent and important to focus my work on the rule of law, energy, and climate change,” Osofsky wrote in a Wednesday email to the law school community.
Osofsky, who previously served as the dean of Penn State Law and the Penn State School of International Affairs, will lead the Rule of Law Global Academic Partnership and the newly announced Energy Innovation Lab after stepping down, per a University email.
The announcement comes after dozens of students, staff and faculty shared concerns with The Daily last year about alleged mismanagement, confusion and low morale under Osofsky’s leadership.
The Office of the Provost began a routine review of Osofsky’s tenure for potential reappointment earlier this academic year. Since Osofsky’s term began in August 2021, the law school has seen significant staff turnover, particularly in the dean’s office and the human resources and marketing departments.
University spokespersons did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding whether the ad hoc review group submitted a recommendation on renewing Osofsky’s tenure prior to her decision to step down.
The law school currently faces several discrimination lawsuits and an attempted probe from the House Committee on Education and Workforce, which recently dropped a records request for two Pritzker legal clinics in response to a lawsuit from two faculty members.
During the second year of Osofsky’s term, several staff members lodged complaints with the Office of the Provost and Pritzker’s human resources department against the dean.
Over 70 students also signed a draft “Statement of No Confidence in Dean Hari Osofsky,” citing concerns about Osofsky’s leadership style and allegedly inappropriate interactions with subordinates and students.
Several faculty members also voiced their concerns directly to University President Michael Schill, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Still, in an email to the NU community, University Provost Kathleen Hagerty praised Osofsky’s leadership and fundraising successes as dean.
“Since joining Northwestern in 2021, Dean Osofsky achieved notable successes, including hiring nearly one-quarter of the research faculty at the Law School, significantly improving student employment outcomes and recruiting the most selective class in the Law School’s 165-year history each year she was dean,” University Provost Kathleen Hagerty wrote in an email to the NU community.
The University will select an interim dean in the coming weeks, according to the announcement. Osofsky’s interim successor will be the law school’s fourth dean in the past five years.
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