DePaul University Law Dean, Glen Weissenberger, Draws On Business Acumen And A Little Magic To Chart Future Of College

Feb 23, 2007

DePaul University Law Dean, Glen Weissenberger, Draws On Business Acumen And A Little Magic To Chart Future Of College

First-Time Dean’s Tenure Filled With Accomplishment

Glen Weissenberger, dean of the DePaul University College of Law, has the savvy of a businessman and the flair of a magician—two attributes that have helped him advance the image and visibility of the law school. Since he assumed the deanship in 2002, the College of Law has experienced a surge in its bar passage rates; seen a dramatic increase in applicants; has attracted talented new faculty and has improved its showing in national rankings. Weissenberger achieved these accomplishments in his maiden stint as a law school dean.

As a businessman, Weissenberger worked as an editorial consultant for Anderson Publishing Co., a Cincinnati-based legal publisher that has since been acquired by LexisNexis. He developed and then executed a business plan for Anderson’s entry into the law school casebook market and became the driving force behind the development of more than 200 titles for the company’s law school division. Because of his knack for business, those books are today used in nearly all U. S. law schools and Weissenberger has earned the reputation in the legal community as a “scholarly entrepreneur.”

Weissenberger, who earned his law degree from Harvard University, also has established a stellar track record as a legal educator and scholar, having taught for 27 years at the University of Cincinnati law school where he rose to become the Judge Joseph P. Kinneary Professor of Law. He also has won numerous teaching awards and penned dozens of law review articles and books.

As the former legal counsel for the International Brotherhood of Magicians, Weissenberger was able to resurrect his childhood hobby of performing as a magician. “Magic is an art that takes the seemingly impossible and makes it possible,” said Weissenberger. “A dean can learn something from that.”

Weissenberger became dean of the College of Law at a critical time in its history. The previous dean decided to return to the classroom when she was only three years into a five-year contract. The law school had real potential but it needed a leader who could dedicate the time, energy and creativity necessary to develop a strong vision for its future. “At DePaul I was able to draw on my experiences as a law professor and a business entrepreneur to help conceptualize and then implement critical strategic goals,” said Weissenberger. “Because it was my first deanship, I wanted to develop fresh ideas drawn not only from the traditional academic administration but successful entrepreneurship as well. I knew that if I established a solid plan, my challenge would be then to engage the faculty and staff and to find the resources to support the new vision.”

Today the College of Law can point to tangible proof that his approach has been successful:

Bar passage rates for first-time test takers of the July, 2006 exam was 89 percent, a sharp contrast to the 73 percent of first-time exam takers who passed the bar exam in July, 2002.

From the fall of 2002 to the fall of 2006, applications to the College of Law increased by 31 percent. The percentage of out-of-state, full-time students also rose from 46 percent in 2002 to 56 percent for the class in 2006.

Weissenberger was able to recruit new, stellar faculty members, including Alberto R. Coll, the former chairman of the Strategic Research Department at the U.S. Naval War College; David Franklin, a former law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg; Andrew Gold, a former corporate litigator for the law firm of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and L. Song Richardson, a former assistant federal public defender and special counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

Under Weissenberger’s leadership, charitable giving to the College of Law has more than doubled.

In 2006, the College of Law moved back into the “Top 100” tier of U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings. The law school ranked number 80 in its latest survey, a substantial increase from the third-tier ranking the law school had occupied for years.

“As dean of the College of Law, Glen Weissenberger has enhanced its tradition of excellence,” said John B. Simon, Chairman of DePaul’s Board of Trustees and a partner with the law firm of Jenner & Block. “Long noted for producing skilled lawyers, judges and community leaders, DePaul’s law school has risen in prominence under Glen’s guidance because of the innovative measures he has implemented. Importantly, this ascendancy has been accomplished while still embracing, expanding and fulfilling DePaul’s commitment to diversity.”

In the fall of 2007, Weissenberger will no longer be a newbie when he begins his second five-year term as dean of the College of Law. His business approach to running the law school has served him well. That and perhaps his ability to pull a rabbit out of a hat if necessary.