Newswise — The Furman University Board of Trustees has unanimously approved the appointment of Rodney A. Smolla as the 11th president of the university, effective July 1, 2010.
Smolla, Dean of Washington and Lee University School of Law, succeeds David E. Shi, who will retire next summer after 16 years as president.
“After conducting a thorough national search, we are certain we have found the right person to become the next president of Furman,” said Kathy McKinney, chair of the Furman Board of Trustees. “Rod Smolla is a brilliant scholar and an inspiring leader who can continue to champion educational excellence and promote the values and principles that have made this university great. He will join a Furman that has never been stronger, an institution that is truly excited about its future.”
Smolla, 56, is Dean and Roy L. Steinheimer Professor of Law at Washington and Lee School of Law. He previously served as Dean and Allen Professor at the University of Richmond School of Law and, prior to that, Director of the Institute of Bill of Rights Law at the College of William & Mary.
A native of the Chicago area, he is a 1975 graduate of Yale University, where he was a member of the football team. He graduated first is in his class from Duke Law School in 1978.
“To be appointed president of Furman University is the greatest honor of my professional life,” Smolla said. “I am excited about joining with others in charting Furman’s future, leading with exuberance, optimism and good cheer, as we continue to expand Furman’s horizons throughout the nation and the world. My family and I look forward to our move to Greenville and to South Carolina, as energetic participants in the life of the community.”
Smolla is widely regarded as one of the foremost scholars in America on issues relating to freedom of speech, academic freedom and freedom of the press. He has presented arguments in state and federal courts throughout the nation, including the Supreme Court of the United States, and has testified before committees of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives.
His book, Free Speech in an Open Society (Alfred A. Knopf 1992) won the William O. Douglas Award as the year’s best monograph on freedom of expression. He is also the author Jerry Falwell v. Larry Flynt: The First Amendment on Trial (St. Martin’s Press 1988) and Deliberate Intent (Crown Publishers 1999). The latter, which was made into a television movie by the FX cable network, describes Smolla’s involvement in a notorious case in which he successfully represented the families of three murder victims in a suit against the publisher of a murder instruction manual.
His latest book, The Constitution Goes to College, describes the constitutional principles and ideas that have shaped American higher education. It is scheduled for publication in 2010 by New York University Press.
Smolla is also a frequent media commentator in newspaper, magazine and Internet news stories. In addition to writing pieces for the New York Times Book Review, he is a regular contributor to the on-line magazines Slate.com and The Huffington Post.
He has remained an active teacher even while serving in his two deanships, teaching courses in higher education law, professionalism, constitutional law, and the Constitution and American culture. He is the recipient of numerous teaching awards, including the State of Virginia’s Outstanding Faculty Award and William & Mary’s John Marshall Faculty Award.
In addition to teaching at William & Mary, Richmond and Washington and Lee, he has been a professor at the University of Illinois, University of Arkansas and DePaul University law schools, and a Senior Fellow of the Washington Annenberg Program of Northwestern University. He has also been a visiting professor at the University of Melbourne, University of Denver, and Duke University law schools.
Smolla is active in civic and community affairs, and frequently speaks to community groups, church groups, youth groups, schools and college organizations. He serves on numerous civic, community, professional and corporate boards, including the Board of Directors of Media General, Inc., and the chairmanship of the Council for America’s First Freedom, an organization dedicated to religious freedom.
He is married to Michele B. Smolla, and their blended family includes five children, from college age through third grade. The Smollas attend St. James Episcopal Church in Richmond, Va. One of their children, Miles, is a freshman at Furman.
RSS