November 8th, 2023

In the news: Garry W. Jenkins

Garry W. Jenkins, a former law school dean, has become president of Bates College in Maine.

Jenkins was scheduled to be inaugurated as the college’s first Black president, but unfortunately do to the recent tragedy in Maine, the event has been postponed until a future date. He took charge July 1 after an international search supported by Isaacson, Miller, a Boston-based consulting firm with a reputation for finding diverse candidates for top higher education positions.

Previously, Jenkins had been dean of the University of Minnesota Law School and William S. Pattee Professor of Law there, continuing to teach as he administered the school.

As dean, Jenkins eliminated a budget deficit; deepened the school’s approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion; and upgraded the academic profile of its students. In 2022, the entering class had the highest academic credentials of any in the law school’s history.

“Garry is a brilliant and accomplished institutional leader who is steeped in the power and promise of the liberal arts. A 1992 graduate of Haverford College, he has served on the Board of Managers of his alma mater since 2009, including serving as vice chair since 2015,” said John Gillespie, chair of the Bates Board of Trustees, when the choice was announced in March.

Jenkins said at the time he was “overjoyed” to become the college’s president. “Simply put, everything about Bates and its culture resonates with me,” he added.

The son of a high school teacher and a computer programmer, Jenkins grew up in northern New Jersey. He graduated from Haverford College in Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

He earned a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a juris doctorate from the Harvard Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review.

While serving as dean of the Minnesota Law School, Jenkins co-taught a course in the fall of 2020 titled “George Floyd’s Minneapolis: Past, Present, and Moving Forward.” He has also been a law professor and associate dean at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.

Bates College, local news