WashU Law announces new dean, Stefanie Lindquist

The new dean of the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law will be Stefanie A. Lindquist, an Arizona State University professor of law and political science, the law school has announced.

WashU Law has been searching for a permanent dean since the fall of 2021, when Nancy Staudt left the position. Russell K. Osgood has served as interim dean since then and will continue to do so until Lindquist steps into the role on July 1. Osgood will remain a professor at the law school.

Lindquist has been on ASU’s faculty since 2016 and is currently the executive director of the school’s Center for Constitutional Design. She has also led the school’s international academic portfolio as senior vice president for global academic initiatives. Before her time in Arizona, she served as dean at the University of Georgia’s School of International Affairs and dean, associate dean for outreach and associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Texas School of Law. She has taught law and political science at Vanderbilt University and was a visiting law professor at the University of Southern California.

WashU described Lindquist as a “nationally recognized constitutional law and U.S. Supreme Court expert.”

“We are so pleased to have recruited Stefanie Lindquist and look forward to welcoming her to WashU Law as its next dean,” said Beverly Wendland, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, in a statement on the school’s website. “She is an accomplished scholar with vast knowledge of constitutional law, and I know she will continue to advance the school’s already-excellent teaching and research enterprises. Her range of experiences bode well for partnerships she will form with her fellow deans and other leaders across WashU.”

Lindquist earned her law degree from Temple University in 1988 and her doctorate in political science from the University of South Carolina in 1995.

“It is a profound honor to be chosen to lead WashU’s extraordinary law school, with its winning combination of accomplished faculty, engaged students and alumni, and dedicated staff,” Lindquist said, according to the school. “I look forward to partnering with all stakeholders — within the university and beyond — to advance the law school’s scholarly, pedagogical and community impact.”