GOLDEN GATE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW APPOINTS NEW DEAN

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Jill Goetz
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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (March 25, 2009) - Golden Gate University (GGU) today announces the appointment of Drucilla Stender Ramey as Dean-Elect of GGU's School of Law. Ramey will take the helm of the Law School effective August 1, 2009, bringing her extensive experience as a practitioner, law professor, and director of national and regional professional legal organizations to her role as dean.

Ramey has served as Executive Director of the National Association of Women Judges in New York since 2005 and was the Executive Director and General Counsel for the Bar Association of San Francisco from 1985 to 2002. She has worked in numerous other nonprofit organizations, including the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the American College of Trial Lawyers and the Open Society Institute, and served as Chair of the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women and the ACLU of Northern California. Ramey served on the faculty at GGU Law School from 1978 to 1985.

"We are delighted that Drucilla is rejoining Golden Gate University," says Dr. Dan Angel, President of GGU. "She brings great experience, strong networking and fundraising skills, a national reputation and instant recognition in the Bay Area. Drucilla will take GGU's School of Law to the next level."

Over the course of her career, Ramey has received many honors, including the American Bar Association's Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, the National Bar Association's Wiley Branton Award and the California Women Lawyers' Fay Stender Award. She has long been recognized as a national leader in efforts to increase diversity in the legal profession. Ramey holds a BA from Harvard University and a JD from Yale Law School.

"I am thrilled to be returning to Golden Gate University, an institution whose exceptional students, faculty, administration and staff are deeply committed, as am I, to educational excellence, public service and a fair and accessible system of justice," says Ramey.

California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George, upon learning of Ramey's appointment, said, "I've known and worked with Dru Ramey for many years, both in her capacity as Executive Director of the Bar Association of San Francisco and later in her leadership position as Executive Director of the National Association of Women Judges. I consider her academic, executive, and fundraising credentials to be exceptional, as well as her commitment to the improvement of access to justice. I believe Golden Gate University, as well as the entire San Francisco legal community, is most fortunate to have her back in California."

"Dru Ramey has been one of the great contributors to the legal community in Northern California and throughout the country for years," notes James J. Brosnahan, Senior Partner with Morrison Foerster. "She will take what has already been accomplished at Golden Gate Law School and elevate it to a new level that will benefit the students, the faculty, and the alumni."

Judge Thelton Henderson of the US District Court for the Northern District of California has known Ramey since they served as co-counsel on a public interest law case before he joined the bench and in his capacity as a former adjunct professor at GGU Law. "Dru built the Bar Association of San Francisco into one of the most visible, active and successful bar associations in the country," Henderson says. "She has a well-deserved national reputation as a person with vision and incredible energy and the ability to inspire people on her team. She will bring all of those assets to GGU."

For more information on GGU's School of Law, visit: http://www.ggu.edu/school_of_law.

About Golden Gate University School of Law Founded in 1901, Golden Gate University School of Law offers full-time and part-time enrollment options leading to the Doctor of Jurisprudence and several advanced graduate law programs for practicing attorneys.

Golden Gate University School of Law is fully accredited by the American Bar Association and the Committee of Bar Examiners of the State of California and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Graduates qualify to take the bar exam in all 50 states and in the District of Columbia.

About Golden Gate University Golden Gate University offers quality educational programs designed to meet the needs of working adults, with undergraduate and graduate degrees in accounting, business, taxation, technology and law. Day, evening and weekend courses are available year-round at the San Francisco campus and at GGU's tax teaching sites in Los Angeles and Seattle, as well as online through the university's CyberCampus.