The University of Pittsburgh has appointed Professor and Vice Dean Jerry Dickinson as the new dean of the School of Law, effective January 15. Dickinson, a Pittsburgh native, was selected for his extensive experience and reputation as a constitutional law scholar and civil rights lawyer.
Dickinson, who resides in Regent Square, has earned acclaim for his teaching and scholarship in constitutional law, civil rights, and race and the law since joining the Pitt Law faculty in 2017. He attended the College of the Holy Cross and earned his law degree from Fordham University. His work is well respected having appeared in law reviews and been cited by U.S. Courts of Appeals and in amicus briefs. In March 2023, he was named vice dean of the school.
At 22, Dickinson, a Shaler Area High School graduate, was awarded a prestigious Fulbright grant to where he studied comparative constitutional law and advocated for squatters in eviction cases in South Africa. He was one of only 159 African-Americans to earn a Fulbright grant that year, out of 1,500 recipients worldwide. Later, Dickinson practiced law at Reed Smith LLP, where he founded the Housing Rights Project to assist indigent tenants facing eviction in Allegheny County.
Dickinson made two runs for Congress in 2020 and 2022, advocating for housing reform, civil rights, and election reform to bring systemic change to his district.
Dickinson succeeds Interim Dean Mary Crossley, who stepped into the role in 2023 following the departure of former dean Amy Wildermuth. At 38, Dickinson could be the youngest law school dean in the country.