WMU-Cooley Law School names new president

WMU-Cooley Law School names new president
James McGrath, incoming president and dean at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School

 

LANSING — Directors today named James McGrath as the new president and dean at Western Michigan University Cooley Law School.

McGrath, a professor of law and associate dean for academic support and bar services at Texas A&M University School of Law, starts at the Lansing-based WMU-Cooley Law School on July 1. He succeeds Don LeDuc, who retired in September after 16 years as president.

“The selection of James McGrath as president and dean comes as WMU-Cooley is in a strong position to enhance its standing in legal education,” said Scott Dienes, a WMU-Cooley board member who chaired the president and dean search committee.

McGrath becomes the third president and sixth dean since the law school’s founding in 1972.

He joined Texas A&M University School of Law as a visiting associate professor of law in 2005 and was promoted to professor of law in 2013. He moved up to associate dean of academic support and bar services in 2015.

McGrath holds an undergraduate degree in psychology from San Jose State University and a Juris Doctor from Howard University School of Law. He also attended Harvard School of Public Health, where he earned a master’s of public health, and earned a master of laws in graduate legal education at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.

“I am excited for this opportunity to work with faculty and staff who are dedicated to Western Michigan University Cooley Law School’s mission of access to the legal profession and modern program of instruction,” McGrath said. “We will all work together to make our law school a model for the future of legal education.”

WMU-Cooley Law School has campuses in Lansing, Auburn Hills, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, plus, Tampa, Fla.