UM law dean plans to return to the faculty

June 26, 2008

Karen H. Rothenberg, the first female dean of the University of Maryland School of Law, announced yesterday that she will step down at the end of the next academic year and return to the faculty of the downtown school.

"We're thriving, so it's a perfect time to say, 'Let's move into our next transition,' and it's a good time for me personally," said Rothenberg, 55, who became law dean in 2000, after a year as interim dean, and is now in her 26th year with the school.

The Bethesda resident said she intended to take a sabbatical year after stepping down June 30, 2009, and would then return to teaching and focus on her research on health care and ethics.

During Rothenberg's tenure, the size of the law school's endowment grew from about $29 million to $49 million, a 70 percent increase. She oversaw the development and construction of a new law school building, which opened in 2002, and established new programs in business law, intellectual property law and international law.

"Notwithstanding her legendary fundraising ability, Karen's principal legacy to the school and to the university will be the outstanding faculty she has recruited and the programs that she has built," said University of Maryland, Baltimore President David J. Ramsay in an e-mail to the campus community. "Her enthusiasm for the school is legendary and highly contagious. Her shoes will not be easy to fill."

In addition to looking forward to more time with her husband and children, Rothenberg said, she relishes the prospect of dabbling again in her avocation. "I'm a frustrated musical comedy actress," she said, "so maybe I'll go back to that."

Gadi Dechter