WELCOME FROM DEAN DRUCILLA STENDER RAMEY

It is my great pleasure to serve as dean of Golden Gate University School of Law and to invite you to learn more about this wonderful institution. When we opened our doors in 1901 as a YMCA night school, our mission was to enable working people to pursue a legal education who might otherwise have been denied the opportunity. Our proud tradition of supporting access, diversity, and innovation in legal education continues to this day.

Golden Gate Law offers a flexible full-time day and part-time evening JD program, five LLM programs, an SJD program, and joint JD/MBA and JD/PhD programs. The curriculum stresses both the theoretical and practical aspects of the law, offering outstanding clinical and externship programs and an innovative Honors Lawyering Program in which JD students complete full-time apprenticeships while graduating within three years. JD students can also gain additional expertise in particular areas of interest by obtaining certificates of specialization. With small classes and dedicated teams for student affairs and career services, Golden Gate Law offers personalized attention for law students and outstanding opportunities for academic success and professional development.

Our reputation and nonpareil location in the heart of San Francisco's legal and financial district attract highly talented educators who, when not teaching, are actively engaged in legal scholarship. Golden Gate's full-time and adjunct faculty members include noted scholars and authors, attorneys practicing in the public and private sectors, and business leaders who share their extensive professional experience with students.

Golden Gate Law features state-of-the-art classrooms and a recently completed major expansion of the Law Library. The Law School publishes three scholarly journals and holds several major symposia, lecture series, and other educational programs throughout the year. Our more than two dozen law student groups represent a wide range of professional, political, and cultural perspectives and sponsor educational and social programs throughout the academic year. We also operate a summer study program on campus and a summer study abroad program in Paris.

Golden Gate Law alumni represent all areas of legal practice and the judiciary, working in federal and state courts across the nation, as partners in large and small firms, as in-house corporate counsel, in government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, and in many other arenas. They have included Supreme Court judges, members of Congress, renowned litigators and civil rights attorneys, partners in major law firms, public interest leaders, general counsel of major corporations, public defenders and prosecutors, and corporate CEOs.

This is an especially exciting time for the Law School. We recently initiated several new programs, including the Intellectual Property Law Center and the Law and Leadership Program, and our new Poverty Law Program, to be inaugurated by a National Poverty Law Conference here in spring 2010. We have also established the annual Chief Justice Ronald M. George Lecture Series, which will feature annual addresses by state Supreme Court Chief Justices; the inaugural lecture will be delivered this fall by Ronald M. George, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California.

Golden Gate Law is a vibrant, intellectually stimulating, and close-knit community. I encourage you to explore our website to learn more about our academic offerings, our values and culture, and our contributions to the legal community and society.

With best regards,

Drucilla S. Ramey
Dean