Harbaugh named interim president at law school
June 7, 2015
CHARLESTON, SC – A distinguished legal educator who has served as dean of two law schools is the new interim president of the Charleston School of Law, the school announced today.
Joseph D. Harbaugh, dean emeritus at Nova Southeastern University Law Center and former dean of the University of Richmond School of Law, joins the school effective immediately. As interim president, he will oversee the day-to-day operations of the recently restructured law school.
Harbaugh’s service is being supported enthusiastically by Dean Andy Abrams, who said, “I am delighted Dean Harbaugh is willing to bring his decades of experience in legal education to the Charleston School of Law and I am excited at the opportunity to work closely with him to ensure a bright future for our school. Not only did he successfully lead two law schools for over 20 years, Dean Harbaugh has held key leadership positions in the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools.
“He brings a remarkable breadth and depth of knowledge of legal education that will benefit all of us associated with the law school, as we move into our second decade of providing a high quality, hands-on legal education.”
Harbaugh, a Fulbright Fellowship Specialist in Negotiation, Mediation, and Alternative Dispute Resolution who has written and taught legal negotiation extensively, was involved with the law school at its beginning.
“As a member of Charleston School of Law’s initial license team appointed by the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, I was proud to be a part of the launching of the law school,” Harbaugh said. “I’m excited to return to a Charleston School of Law that has matured and is poised to make another leap forward. I am eager to work with faculty, staff, students and alumni to make that happen.”
Harbaugh joined Nova Southeastern in 1995 as dean and professor of law, a position he held until 2008. At that time, he was named dean emeritus, but continued to serve as a professor. He became a professor emeritus last year.
Harbaugh also served as dean and professor of law at the University of Richmond from 1987 to 1995. Prior to that leadership role, he was a law professor at American University’s Washington College of Law (1984-87), Temple University School of Law (1974-1984), Duke University School of Law (1972-74) and the University of Connecticut School of Law (1968-72). He also has been a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center (1982-84), Universitá Roma Tre (Fulbright Fellow, 2010 and 2011), and the University of Miami Law School (currently).
In addition to his academic roles, Harbaugh served as chief counsel for the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee (1978-85), a special assistant chief prosecuting attorney for organized crime in Connecticut (1968-70) and the chief public defender (1965-68) in Connecticut.
He earned a bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph’s University in 1961. He holds a law degree (LL.B.) from the University of Pittsburgh (1964) and a master’s degree in law (LL.M.) from Georgetown University (1967), where he was a Prettyman Fellow. Harbaugh has an honorary law degree from Concord Law School (2006).
About the Charleston School of Law
The Charleston School of Law offers students the unique opportunity to study the time-honored practice of law amid the beauty and grace of one of the South’s most historic cities, Charleston, South Carolina. Students at the Charleston School of Law study law as a profession and find a faculty focused on using the law as a calling in the public interest. Faculty members devote their full attention to excellent teaching and scholarship, both in and out of the classroom. Where traditions meet opportunity — that is Charleston and the Charleston School of Law.
