ATLANTA—Janice Griffith, who was the fourth dean of the Georgia State University College of Law from 1996 to 2004, has endowed a Chair in Law.
As dean of the College of Law, Griffith elevated the college’s national reputation, breaking into the U.S. News & World Report list of top 100 law schools. During her tenure, she also oversaw the creation of 18 endowments and extended Georgia State Law’s engagement with the legal community by inviting distinguished speakers such as the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to deliver the Henry J. Miller Lecture. She established the Center for Law, Health & Society and the Center for the Comparative Study of Metropolitan Growth.
“Watching the College of Law continue along a path of excellence sparked my interest in making a gift,” Griffith said. “I believe in the law school’s mission to provide superb legal education to a diverse student body, while serving as a resource for communities close by and around the world through research, teaching and collaboration. I am especially interested in the law school’s commitment to play a role in creating more livable, healthier and equitable urban communities.”
The chair will be in the Center for the Comparative Study of Metropolitan Growth, where scholars, students and industry professionals take a multidisciplinary approach to researching and solving the issues facing metropolitan areas around the world. The center’s signature programs are the interdisciplinary Urban Fellows Program for students and Study Space, a workshop that gathers international scholars to solve a variety of urban growth problems and address urban issues.
The Janice C. Griffith Chair in Law Endowment Fund will provide financial support for a faculty member who studies a number of related areas, including policymaking, urban growth, land use planning, preservation and sustainability.
“We are beyond grateful for Dean Griffith’s generosity in providing this transformative gift to support our Metro Growth center,” said interim dean Leslie Wolf. “Julian Juergensmeyer, a giant in land use planning and comparative land-use law and the current director of the Center for the Comparative Study of Metropolitan Growth, retires this semester. Dean Griffith’s gift will help us attract an exceptional scholar who will lead the center as it carries out its important work on the critical issues that affect most of the world’s population.”
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia approved the chair at its Nov. 11 meeting.
To learn more about the center, visit law.gsu.edu/metrogrowth.