Thomas Galligan Jr., who has served as president of Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire since 2006, was named the next dean of the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, according to an email sent out by Senior Vice Provost Jane Cassidy. His appointment will go into effect July 1.
Galligan has more than 20 years of experience teaching law, including a stint as a Law Center professor from 1986-1998, during which he won the “Favorite Professor” award six times.
“We are seeing more opportunities for our law students than ever before with collaborations across campus, and we feel Tom is the right leader to continue to grow and further these opportunities,” LSU President F. King Alexander said in a news release.
Galligan has previously served as dean and professor of law at the University of Tennessee College of Law and as the executive director of the Louisiana Judicial College.
A committee assembled in August and chaired by Cassidy initiated the search.
“I commend LSU, Dr. Cassidy, the provost’s office, on the way they’ve run the search,” interim dean William Corbett said in January. “The kind of quality candidates they have in the pool of candidates, you have to be very organized and very efficient in the way they do it, and they were. I was impressed.”
The committee was looking for a strong leader with an administrative background who could connect with faculty and students within and outside of the Law Center, search committee member Christina Hood said. The pool of applicants was narrowed from 12 candidates to three, one of whom accepted a dean position at another law school.
Law professors Corbett and Cheney Joseph Jr. served as the Law Center’s interim co-deans following former Chancellor and Dean Jack Weiss’ resignation in July. Corbett continued to serve as interim dean after Joseph passed away in December.
“[William] and Cheney stepped up to the plate last July and have provided strong leadership within the campus community and beyond to our alumni and community partners,” Cassidy said in an email. “We are indebted to them for their service.”