Rutgers Law Welcomes New Dean

Johanna Bond, an accomplished academic leader and legal scholar, became the new dean of Rutgers Law School in July 2023. She joins Rutgers after serving as Sydney and Frances Lewis Professor of Law, an endowed chair in the School of Law at Washington and Lee University, where she previously was associate dean for academic affairs. Bond also serves as an affiliate faculty member in the university’s Africana Studies and the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies programs.

“An accomplished legal scholar and a strong academic administrator, Professor Bond is uniquely qualified to serve as the dean of Rutgers University Law School,”
– Antonio D. Tillis, chancellor of Rutgers University in Camden.

“Professor Bond brings an intellectual trajectory that complements the scholarly focus of law faculty in Camden,” Chancellor Tillis continued. “As an academic administrator, she has a proven track record with leading a diverse faculty, financial management, pedagogical innovation, fundraising, and alumni development. Further, her commitment to a student-centric approach to legal education and focus on civically engaged and experiential learning aligns well with the values of Rutgers–Camden.”

As a tenured professor, Bond focuses on women’s rights in sub-Saharan Africa, women’s rights within the United Nations, and the application of critical race feminism in the context of human rights. Her most recent book with Oxford University Press, Global Intersectionality and Contemporary Human Rights, is the culmination of more than two decades of scholarship related to global human rights. She is a recipient of the Lewis Prize for Excellence in Legal Scholarship, the Ethan Allen Faculty Award for Scholarship, and was twice named a Fulbright Scholar.

At Washington and Lee, Bond also chaired the Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion on the President’s Strategic Planning Steering Committee, served on presidential and provost search committees, and restructured the first-year curriculum and designed a new first-year legal writing program.

Bond works with the entire Rutgers Law School community to elevate the school to national prominence.

“I am thrilled to lead Rutgers Law School, an extraordinary institution with an outstanding faculty and a long history of justice-oriented community engagement,” Bond said. “Rutgers Law has a deep commitment to access, diversity and inclusion, public service, and excellence, and I am honored to join the Rutgers Law community as its next dean.”

Design: Karaamat Abdullah
Photography: Ron Downes Jr.