The University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law is welcoming a familiar face as its new dean.
Chancellor Robert Coombe announced on Feb. 8 that Martin Katz will lead the law school. Katz has been a professor at the Sturm College of Law since 2000 and has served as interim dean since July 2009.
Katz says he is eager to move forward and help implement a new strategic plan developed in conjunction with top law schools and the Colorado and national legal community. The plan was approved overwhelmingly by the law faculty in December. The blueprint provides a framework for building upon new initiatives in teaching that focus on real-world preparation and provide graduates with the tools needed in today’s rapidly changing legal climate.
“I’m very excited to take this role,” Katz says. “It’s a unique time and a unique set of opportunities at the law school. There are significant changes afoot in both the practice of law and in our understanding of how to provide the best legal education possible. Our strategy to achieve this vision provides a thoughtful blueprint for taking advantage of the new world we’re living in.”
Chancellor Coombe says the University community can look forward to Katz’s leadership.
“We are pleased to have Dean Katz lead the Sturm College of Law,” Coombe says. “We are confident we have selected the right person to take us forward, working in partnership with the faculty, our alumni, and the regional legal community to develop the Sturm College into one of the premier law schools in the country.”
Katz, a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School, has served on the Sturm College of Law faculty since 2000. Before that, he served as an adjunct instructor at the University of Colorado Law School and was a partner in the employment law group at Davis, Graham & Stubbs. He is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, the Eighth and Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Court: District of Colorado, and the state of Colorado.
Katz specializes in antidiscrimination law, both within constitutional law and employment law. His work has been published extensively, including in the Georgetown Law Journal, the Notre Dame Law Review, the Indiana Law Journal, the Hastings Law Journal and the Yale Law Journal.
In addition to his work in law, Katz is a licensed pilot. He serves on the Civil Air Patrol’s search and rescue team and has flown medical transport missions for Angel Flight West.