ORLANDO – Ruth Witherspoon, who has served the Florida A&M University College of Law since 2001 as associate dean for Administration and Student Services, has been appointed interim dean of the FAMU College of Law.
“Her strong commitment to the concept of providing quality service in legal education is evidenced by her 23 years of substantial and progressively responsible
administrative experience,” said Debra Austin, provost and vice president of Academic Affairs. “The University has pledged its support of, and is confident in Dean Witherspoon’s abilities and her commitment to insuring that the law school continues to make progress toward the goal of full ABA accreditation.”
Witherspoon also has served on the faculty and as a law school administrator at Florida State University, the University of Connecticut and the University of Nebraska. Her broad administrative experience in various matters was a key component in the preparation and compilation of materials required by the American Bar Association (ABA) for its site evaluations. Along with other administrators, her appearances before meetings of both the ABA’s Accreditation Committee and the ABA’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admission to respond to questions about the law school, was significant in assuring provisional accreditation for the FAMU College of Law.
“Although it is an interim appointment, I will involve myself fully,” said Witherspoon, who accepted the appointment January 1, 2007. “The only agenda is accreditation and I commit to focusing my efforts on those matters that will advance our progress towards securing full approval.”
Witherspoon will serve as interim dean until such time as a permanent dean is appointed. With the board of trustees’ selection of Dr. James Ammons as the university’s next president, Interim President Castell Vaughn Bryant recently announced a moratorium on all major university personnel changes, including the appointment of a permanent law school dean, until the newly elected president is on-board.
