Professor Shestowsky to Become Senior Associate Dean

Professor Donna Shestowsky has been named senior associate dean for academic affairs at UC Davis School of Law. She will assume the new role Aug. 1.

“Donna Shestowsky has all the skills to be a truly transformative senior associate dean for academic affairs,” said Dean Kevin R. Johnson. “An influential scholar and legendary teacher, and dedicated to the service mission of the law school and university, she is ideally situated to help lead the law school. The King Hall community is lucky indeed to have a person of character, integrity and decency assume the associate dean position.”

Shestowsky will serve as senior associate dean under incoming Dean Jessica Berg, who starts Sept. 1. Johnson, the law school’s longest-serving dean, is stepping down to return to the faculty after 16+ years leading the law school.

A Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law and nationally recognized authority on alternative dispute resolution, Shestowsky arrived at UC Davis in 2004 and received the law school’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2007. In 2018, she was named inaugural director of the Lawyering Skills Education Program, and has served in this capacity since the program’s inception.

“I feel very honored to be taking on this new role,” Shestowsky said. “It will provide the opportunity to work with faculty, staff, alums and students in diverse  ways. I look forward to getting to know the wonderful people in our community even better than I have in years past.”

Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor Afra Afsharipour will assist in Shestowsky’s transition before stepping down to return to the faculty full time in September. During her six years as an administrator, Afsharipour shepherded the introduction of several innovative, highly topical UC Davis Law courses, among other achievements.

Shestowsky holds a J.D. and a Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford, a B.A. and M.S. in psychology from Yale, and is on the faculty of UC Davis’ Psychology Graduate Group. 

Her research examines basic assumptions underlying the structure of the legal system and explores ways in which the legal system might be improved using the methodological and analytic tools of psychological theory and research. In recognition of her scholarly contributions, Shestowsky received the Association of American Law Schools’ Section on Litigation’s Scholar Award earlier this year.

Shestowsky was the sole principal investigator of a multi-year research project, funded by the National Science Foundation and the American Bar Association, that examined how litigants evaluate legal procedures. One article based on this work was awarded the 2016 Mangano Dispute Resolution Advancement Award; another was named best article of 2018 by the AALS Section on ADR.

Her research has appeared in top journals including the Stanford Law Review, Law and Human Behavior, and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Dedicated to helping legal practitioners make use of empirical research, Shestowsky also publishes in journals with broader audiences, such as Court Review and Dispute Resolution Magazine. In March, the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution honored Shestowsky and co-author Jennifer Shack with its annual Outstanding Short Article Award for their Court Review article “Ten Tips for Getting the Most Out of an Evaluation of your ODR Program”. Shestowsky also has commented for national media including CNN, NPR and the New York Times.

She advises courts on the development of court-connected ADR programs and provides negotiation education services to corporations, law firms, and national organizations. 

Shestowsky co-founded the King Hall Negotiations Team in 2007 and has served as its faculty advisor ever since. She also coaches external competition teams, which consistently excel in regional and national ABA negotiation and client counseling competitions, including securing the top spot globally in the International Law Student Negotiations Competition in 2009.

Shestowsky was elected as an American Bar Foundation fellow in 2021 and in 2023 served as chair of the AALS Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution. Under her leadership, the section earned the AALS' Section of the Year Award.