• About UANews
• Sign up for News
• Resources for Media
• Calendar
• Contact Us

Lawrence Ponoroff, the new dean at the James E. College of Law, plans to focus on strengthening alumni ties and private support of the college.

By La Monica Everett-Haynes, University Communications
August 7, 2009

At the helm of The University of Arizona James E. Roger College of Law for only a month, Lawrence Ponoroff has a full calendar, meeting with various individuals and groups across the state to introduce himself and build new relationships.

Ponoroff, whose assumed the role of dean at the start of July, has a number of priorities, such as building ties with alumni and connections with other constituent groups.

He also intends to work toward improving faculty recruiting and retention and continuing  to enhance the quality and diversity of an already strong student body.  

The college's role is to equip "young, bright, talented students with the knowledge and the values to become leaders, not just in the profession, but in communities as well," he said.

"It is important for us to instill in our students an appreciation for public service and the other earmarks of responsible citizenry that are attendant obligations that go along with the advantages they will enjoy as members of a profession," he added. 

Ponoroff, also the Dean & Samuel M. Fegtly Chair in Commercial Law at the law school, sees the college's graduates as potential volunteers, and says cultivating those new relationships and keeping them engaged and welcome is important.

The school, he noted, is already quite strong across the board, but there are a number of goals he has in place for advancing the college.

A key part of ensuring the college's priorities are met, Ponoroff said, will be to increase private support, particularly for the founding of new endowed chairs and professorships and for scholarships for law students.

Ponoroff, who succeeds Toni Massaro, who stepped down after a 10-year term to return to the faculty, said he has already begun conversations within the college to develop a "sustainable and realistic" strategic plan.

"We want to be bold and innovate in the setting and pursuit of our goals, but we are sensitive to the fact that we can't place the financial burden of reaching those goals on our students with ever-escalating tuition increase," Ponoroff said. 

That said, he also is working to help figure out ways to make gift giving a much faster and easier process for donors, as well mechanism for meaningfully connecting both alumni and non-alumni constituents with the institution. 

When Ponoroff's appointment was announced, UA Provost Meredith Hay called him a "preeminent legal scholar and innovator," adding that "I am thrilled that he will be leading the law college at such an important time in its history."

Hay described Ponoroff as the "ideal person" to head the law school, known nationally for its curriculum, research and commitment to public service.

Prior to his post at the UA, Ponoroff served as the Tulane University Law School dean for eight years. During his tenure, he worked to rebuild and reopen Tulane after Hurricane Katrina forced it to close.

Also while at Tulane, Ponoroff served as the school's vice dean of the law school and professor of law at Tulane and also held the Mitchell Franklin Professor of Private and Commercial Law. 

He is a member of several bar associations, including the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, and he also serves by appointment of the Chief Justice of the United States on the Bankruptcy Rules Committee, an advisory committee to the U.S. Judicial Conference, and on the Bankruptcy Judges Education Committee of the Federal Judicial Center.

"Dean Ponoroff is the perfect person to guide the College into this second century of distinguished legal education, research and public service," Massaro noted after his appointment.

"He understands who we are," she added, "why we excel, and where we need to go now to continue the Arizona tradition of excellence in a fast-changing world."

Ponoroff said he is thrilled to be in Arizona and to be part of the UA family.

"I recognize that the institution – the UA and the law school - has put a lot of trust and confidence in me," he said. "I am appreciative of that and I promise to do hard work to reward that trust and confidence."