In 2022-23, UC Davis Law emerged with a renewed sense of optimism fueled by the King Hall community’s remarkable accomplishments and seemingly endless potential.
Although our community and world continue to face many challenges, the progress we made in recent months merits celebration. From our graduates’ job success to our national agenda-steering faculty, headlining-grabbing alumni, and rankings-topping focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, UC Davis Law’s impact is profound.
Fall 2022 ushered in exciting developments. The incoming class was among our most diverse ever. Nearly 60% are students of color, women make up a similar percentage, and almost a quarter of the Class of 2025 identifies as LGBTQ+. Nearly 20 percent are first-generation college graduates.
New faculty members Amelia Miazad and Mary Ziegler helped guide the national conversations on ESG (environmental, social, governance) issues and the future of reproductive rights, respectively. Professor Miazad weighed in for the New York Times on ESG and the fashion industry and brought vital context to our wonderful UC Davis Law Review symposium “The ‘E’ in ESG.”
One of the world’s foremost historians of the U.S. abortion debate, Professor Ziegler has been the leading voice in the national media on the myriad legal implications of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruling. Professor Ziegler also has published two acclaimed books in the past year.
We will enhance our faculty further next fall by welcoming back acclaimed constitutional scholar Professor Vikram Amar -- former UC Davis Law senior associate dean and current Illinois College of Law dean – and introducing new King Hall Professors Chimène Keitner, an expert on international law and human rights, and Nila Bala, currently legislative director for NYU Law’s Policing Project.
We always knew our alums rank among the world’s best attorneys, judges and activists. Now the world knows it, too. In 2022, President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Sister Simone Campbell ’77, a tireless advocate for social causes. Chief Justice of California Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye ‘84, another great friend to King Hall, made news in 2022 by announcing she would leave the judiciary after a long, stellar career. Read about the former chief justice and new state Supreme Court Associate Justice Kelli Evans ’94, who continues King Hall’s legacy on the state high court.
As we wrap up the academic year, I remain awed by how fully our alumni, students, faculty and staff embody the King Hall community spirit and pursuit of equal justice for all. I hope that as you read about your community, you join me in taking pride in what we have accomplished together.
Sincerely,
Kevin R. Johnson
Law school dean, Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law, and professor of Chicana/o Studies at the University of California, Davis