Dean Rutledge's Year-end Message

Dear alumni/alumnae and friends,

The holiday season is often a time for reflection, and these reflections are at the forefront of my mind as I wind down 10 years of service as your dean at the University of Georgia School of Law and provide you with the 2024 Dean's Report video.

Serving as the dean of this law school has been an honor of a lifetime. Collectively we all – alumni/alumnae, friends, faculty, staff and students – have played a role in helping our great law school to redefine what it means to be a great national public law school – one that offers a world-class, hands-on and purpose-driven educational experience while never surrendering its commitment to accessibility.

Some key 2024 milestones include:

Although I will step down from my current position on December 31, I will remain a member of the law school’s faculty at least through next spring. I want you to know I will continue to support our students and the law school community. This also includes enthusiastically assisting our incoming dean – Usha Rodrigues.

In closing, many of you may recall seeing a quote from the Greek hero Pericles on the bulletin board in my office. It reads: What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others. Speaking from the heart, I want to thank each of you for what you have woven into the lives of more than 2,000 law students over the past decade. They give us hope for the future and serve as the source of profound inspiration for what graduates of this law school will do to benefit their country.

Thank you again for your role in the law school’s continued success! Happy holidays to you and your families!

Peter B. "Bo" Rutledge
Dean and Talmadge Chair of Law