MORGANTOWN — West Virginia University College of Law has selected a new dean after the departure of Gregory Bowman.
Amelia Smith Rinehart said the appointment is humbling.
"I am so honored to be appointed to the deanship at the College of Law," Rinehart said in an interview with The West Virginia Record. "I applied to this position because the state of West Virginia, the WVU community, and the College of Law are all places committed to their shared values of service, curiosity, respect, accountability, and appreciation, and those values resonate with me and my academic career."
Rinehart said that President Gordon Gee and Provost Maryanne Reed have entrusted her to lead the College of Law alongside its faculty as they tackle new and familiar challenges means that they see in her a leader who shares those values and who will embody and model the Mountaineer spirit.
"It’s humbling and I am very grateful, Rinehart said.
Rinehart said she's done many things throughout her career that make her feel she is a good fit for the position.
"I’ve worn four hats in my professional career: engineer, lawyer, teacher, and administrator," Rinehart said. "That seems well suited for the position in which WVU Law finds itself – in need of a dean who can be many things to many people, who is drawn to transformative curiosity and problem solving, who sees goals always as institutional ones that can be achieved despite obstacles and challenges, and who will renew trust and build engagement and connection within the law school, the university, and their communities."
Rinehart said she's looking forward to using her experiences as she dives into work at WVU in June.
"My experience with legal education administration has been at a large, R1 public university with a small law school that operates like a family for its faculty, students, staff, and alumni," Rinehart said. "Taken together, I’m very excited to lean on all of these experiences as I dive into work at the College of Law."
Rinehart said she can't wait to start working at the university and get to know the people and the university itself.
"Organizations, even law schools and universities and their student and alumni, are networks of humans working together," Rinehart said. "Through the interview process, I’ve gotten the chance to meet a wide range of WVU Law and WVU community members. Each of them has brought a rich perspective to the questions that I asked about strengths and challenges, and I am eager to learn more from all of the people who contribute to the College of Law’s success."
Rinehart said she is looking forward to calling West Virginia home.
"West Virginia is a beautiful, diverse state where a strong sense of self-reliance and individualism runs in parallel with notions of family and belonging," Rinehart said. "I am really looking forward to this being my home, professionally and personally."
Rinehart is currently the associate dean of academic affairs and a professor at the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law.
