Former UC Berkeley Law Dean, Chris Edley, Dies At 71

BERKELEY, CA — Chris Edley, who has been long regarded as a transformative dean at the UC Berkeley School of Law, died Friday morning, according to a message released by the current dean on Friday.

After graduating from Swarthmore College, the Harvard School of Public Policy and Harvard Law School, Edley spent more than two decades as a professor at Harvard Law, where he co-founded the Harvard Civil Rights Project.

In 2004, he came to UC Berkeley to serve as the School of Law's dean — a position he continued to hold until 2013.

"Chris was a truly transformative dean at Berkeley Law and made an enormous impact on every aspect of the law school," said UC Berkeley School of Law's current dean, Erwin Chemerinsky, in an email to EdSource.

"He had an exemplary career in public service and academia. His life should be an inspiration for all of us."

As dean of Berkeley law, Edley hired a strong group of faculty, bolstered support for grants for students, created several centers and took initiative to build the school's south addition, which included a library, cafe and classrooms.

Outside of academia, Edley held White House positions under Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and served in senior positions in the presidential campaigns of Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, Howard Dean, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

During the Clinton presidential transition, he served as a senior economic adviser and was a board member for the Obama transition team in 2008, where he was responsible for education, immigration and health.

Edley also co-chaired the National Commission on Education Equity and Excellence from 2011-13 and served as either a member or fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, National Academy of Public Administration, Council on Foreign Relations, American Law Institute, advisory board of the Hamilton Project, Brookings Institution, and the board of Inequality Media
Additionally, he was a National Research Council national associate and chaired a committee to create a national framework for equity indicators in education. He also chaired a committee to assess the National Assessment of Educational Progress ("Nation's Report Card") performance standards.

"Chris and I were law school classmates. He has been a dear friend and has provided me invaluable wisdom and support in my years as a dean," Chemerinsky wrote in Friday's message.
"I know I speak for all of us in saying how terribly much we will miss him."

This article previously appeared on EdSource.

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