Lyrissa Lidsky ’93 Named 17th dean of the University of Missouri School of Law

From Mizzou Law’s website:

Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky, currently the associate dean for graduate and non-J.D. programs at the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law, has been appointed as the 17th dean of the University of Missouri School of Law. She will join the law school officially on July 1.

“I am thrilled and honored to join Mizzou Law as it continues its rise into the top tier of law schools in the country,” Lidsky says. “I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with the law school’s amazing faculty, staff, and alumni, and to have the support of a state land-grant university devoted to teaching and research excellence. I’ve always believed that our job as educators is to provide students not only with meaningful careers but with meaningful lives as they define them — whether they want to join sophisticated national or international law practices, work in the public sector, dedicate themselves to public service, develop solo practices, change the world by becoming entrepreneurs, or lead at local, state or national levels. As a dean I hope to help make the highest aspirations of our students into realities.”

Lidsky, who will be the law school’s first female dean, has served in a variety of leadership roles at the University of Florida, including as associate dean for international programs and associate dean for faculty development. Currently she serves as associate dean for graduate and non-J.D. programs and holds the Stephen C. O’Connell Chair and Professor of Law at Florida.

Lidsky is an award-winning teacher, receiving student-selected awards such as Teacher of the Year (twice) and Faculty Graduation Speaker (three times), as well as Teacher of the Year, which was selected by a faculty committee. In her 23-year career as a law professor, Lidsky has taught courses such as Torts, Media Law, Internet Law, Constitutional Law, Professional Responsibility, First Amendment Law, Business Torts and Introduction to Lawyering.

Widely regarded as one of the nation’s foremost First Amendment scholars, she has published books such as First Amendment Law: Cases and Materials and Mass Media Law: Cases and Materials and Freedom of the Press.

Dean Lidsky has many admirers, but none more devoted that her former teacher—and eventual co-author—Prof. David A. Anderson. “Lyrissa was a small-town girl with a strong West Texas accent when she arrived at the Law School in 1990. She was bright and industrious, and by the time she graduated she had a sophisticated legal mind.  At Florida she taught the Mass Media course, and when I needed a co-author for my Mass Media casebook, she immediately came to mind.  She has been with me on that book through three editions, and now more of the book is hers than mine! I’m really excited for her, and especially excited for everyone at Mizzou.”

Category: Alumni News