UCT appoints new Dean of Law

The University of Cape Town has appointed Professor Penelope (Penny) Andrews as the new Dean of the Faculty of Law. She will take up her post in January 2016.

In his announcement of this appointment to the campus community on Tuesday, 30 June 2015, Vice-Chancellor Dr Max Price said: "Professor Andrews is a noted human rights scholar and advocate, and is currently the President and professor of law at Albany Law School in the state of New York, USA, having formerly served as President and Dean. She is the first female president and dean for the school since it opened in 1851. She was previously the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the City University of New York School of Law (CUNY), where she also sat on the Senate. Prior to joining CUNY, she was a professor of law and Director of International Studies at Valparaiso Law School in Indiana, USA."

The following summary of Professor Andrews' career is quoted from Dr Price's letter:

Professor Andrews earned her BA in 1980 (majoring in Economic History; Comparative African Government and Administration) and her LLB in 1982 from the then-University of Natal in Durban. In 1984 she received an LLM from Columbia University School of Law in New York.

Professor Andrews began her teaching career more than two decades ago at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia. She has been tenured at four law schools (one in Australia and three in the USA) and has served on significant law school committees and the boards of public interest legal organisations as well as on business councils. She has been a member of and has chaired several accreditation site teams for the American Bar Association's section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. She is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association.

Professor Andrews has published four books and more than 50 articles and book chapters focusing on international human rights law, comparative constitutional law, gender and racial equality, and the judiciary. Her most recent book, From Cape Town to Kabul: Rethinking Strategies for Pursuing Women's Human Rights, was published by Ashgate in 2012.

Some of the highlights of her broad and diverse career include:

• Chairing the committee that steered CUNY's successful application to become a member of the Association of American Law Schools;
• Consulting for the United Nations Development Fund for Women, and for the Ford Foundation in Johannesburg;
• Developing partnerships with educational and training institutions to expand Albany Law School's offerings in the fields of law and technology, law and finance and law and health – all growing career paths for law graduates;
• Raising alumni engagement and successfully leading fundraising efforts with the establishment of several new scholarships, prize and lecture funds, as well as support for Albany Law School's Government Law Center and the Law Clinic & Justice Center;
• Instituting a programme to expand employment prospects for Albany Law School graduates as well as to institutionalise mentorship that involves alumni, faculty and students;
• Initiating a Rural Legal Initiative to highlight the legal needs of rural communities;
• Co-hosting the South African Reading Group with Professor Stephen Ellmann at New York Law Faculty
• Hosting several law conferences in South Africa between 2000 and 2012; and
• Serving as the Vice-President of the South African-American Organization in the USA.

Professor Andrews will replace Professor PJ Schwikkard, whose term comes to an end and who has been Dean of Law at UCT since January 2009. Dr Price said: "I would like to take this opportunity to thank Professor Schwikkard for her excellent management of the faculty and to wish her a happy transition back into full-time legal scholarship."

Media release issued by Pat Lucas, Manager: UCT Communications and Media Liaison Department. Email: pat.lucas@uct.ac.za