A leader emerges Sujit Choudhry, Boalt Hall’s new dean, outlines his vision for propelling the law school to even greater heights Interviewed by Andrew Cohen
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ujit Choudhry isn’t prone to hyperbole. As a renowned law
global outreach, and alumni engagement. He says he will strive to integrate professor and legal expert who has helped facilitate con- research, experiential education, and stitutional transitions around the world, his work relies policy work to make Boalt “greater than the sum of its parts.” heavily on the careful use of language. So when Boalt Hall’s While Choudhry will move across the dean-in-waiting calls his new job “the opportunity of a lifetime,” country with his wife and two children, in some ways it’s a homecoming. Most the words ring true. of his large extended family lives in Hailed for his influential scholarship, inspired teaching, and California, and seven relatives are UC innovative leadership at the University of Toronto and New York graduates. Recently, Choudhry discussed his University schools of law, Choudhry will begin a five-year past—and Boalt’s future—with Senior Communications term as Boalt’s next dean on July 1. The appointment cul- Writer and Transcript Managing Editor Andrew Cohen. minates an open, national search. Just 44, Choudhry has already published more than 70 articles, book chapters, working papers, and reports. His scholarship has produced groundbreaking work on consti- Andrew Cohen: You’ll soon be the dean of a top U.S. law tutional design as a way for countries to transition from civil school. Did you see your career headed in this direction war to peaceful democracies. In March 2012, he founded when you first became interested in law? NYU Law’s Center for Constitutional Transitions, the world’s Sujit Choudhry: No, but in a way it’s not a complete surprise. first university-based center that generates and mobilizes My dad was a professor, my mom was a professor, my brothknowledge in support of constitution building. er’s a professor—the chances were high that I’d become an Well-versed in the challenges facing public law schools, academic. As for working in the United States, that just hapChoudhry is a strong proponent of curricular innovation, pened naturally. I began my teaching career in Canada, and
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| Transcript | Spring 2014
photograph by JIM BLOCK