NSU Horizons Spring/Summer 2008

spotlight Now in his 21st year, including the last 13 at Nova Southeastern Uni- versity’s Shepard Broad Law Center, Joseph Harbaugh has had one of the longest runs as a law school dean in the United States. But that run will come to an end when he steps down from his position on June 30. “Twenty-one straight years as a law school dean had me as the longest continuous serving law dean in the United States. That was a title I did not want to hold,” Harbaugh said. “It is something I’ve been considering for a few years, and it is clearly time.” Harbaugh became dean at NSU’s law school in July 1995 after serving in the same capacity at the University of Richmond School of Law, in Virginia. A true innovator, he was determined to make NSU a legal education leader in the use of com- puter technology. The Law Center was subsequently twice named “the most wired law school in the nation” by the National Jurist magazine. Under Harbaugh’s leadership, the Law Center faculty and administra- tion implemented an online version of the Alternative Admission Model Program for Legal Education (AAM- PLE ® ). AAMPLE ® offers determined individuals whose admission was de- nied based on traditional criteria an opportunity to earn a place in the law school classroom. In response to the need for legal education across the professions, Harbaugh proposed, and the faculty approved, online master of science degree programs in health law, employment law, and education law. These programs are the only ones of their kind and are designed to educate non- lawyers on legal issues they encounter in the field. The evening law program at NSU was also initiated to meet the needs of work- ing professionals. Harbaugh also expanded the Law Center beyond U.S. borders, negotiating dual-degree partnerships with universities in Spain, Italy, and the Czech Republic, giving students the opportunity to become licensed in multiple jurisdictions so they can serve their clients in the global arena. Students enrolled in the dual- degree programs take classes at the Shepard Broad Law Center and at one of the universities in the program: the University of 12 horizons dean harbaugh resigns, professor harbaugh enters the classroom By alan hancock Joseph Harbaugh, dean of the Shepard Broad Law Center Barcelona in Spain; the Università Ca'Foscari di Venezia in Venice, Italy; Roma Tre in Rome, Italy; or Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. With the support of the Leo Goodwin Foundation, Inc., Harbaugh initiated the Leo Goodwin Sr. Chair in Law Symposium, annually bringing national and international distinguished legal scholars and political leaders to the Law Center. In the 11 years of the symposium, former president of Haiti Jean Bertrand Aristide; civil rights activist Anita Hill; and the Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop elected to the episcopate, have been among the visiting speakers to interact with students, faculty members, and alumni regarding forward- thinking topics. Harbaugh was also involved in starting the Lawyering Skills and Values Program, designed to integrate legal theory with practice,