EDITORIAL: Searching for a Law Dean

The Law School Search Committee needs to move quickly as the date of Diver's departure approaches. And with the July 1 departure of outgoing Penn Law School Dean Colin Diver looming closer and closer, the chance that a successor for his position will be named immediately now appears slight. The search committee has been working since last November in their effort to find qualified candidates to lead Penn's Law School into the 21st century. But Committee Chairperson Richard Herring, undergraduate dean of the Wharton School, now admits that nothing short of a "miracle" could enable the committee to meet the upcoming July 1 deadline. The number of candidates currently up for review is unclear and administrators remain vague about whether they are looking for people internally or externally. So it seems that the role -- once touted by members of the administration as the premier Law School opening in the country -- may soon fall into a state of flux. The Law School may be forced to follow the path set by the School of Engineering and Applied Science and appoint an interim dean while the search drags on. An interim leader could potentially place the school in a static position -- unable to move ahead and significantly improve its national status. Admittedly, the committee claims it will do everything possible to complete its daunting task in a timely manner. To date, it has worked with a national search firm to locate options, has compiled a list of possible candidates and it has been conducting various interviews throughout the past few month. But it has yet to successfully narrow down the pool of candidates to the requisite final three to five requested by University President Judith Rodin, making the possibility that Diver's office will be occupied come July doubtful. It will prove difficult to find a successor to Diver, who -- over the past 10 years -- has vastly improved the school both academically and financially, and will be sorely missed by faculty and students. But we hope the University moves quickly to overcome the difficulties surrounding the search process and pinpoints appropriate candidates for the job. Penn cannot afford to leave one of its most prominent schools without an adept leader.