Leonard Strickman
Encyclopedia
Leonard P. Strickman has been the Dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
of three law schools. Most recently, he has served as the founding Dean of the Florida International University College of Law
Florida International University College of Law
The Florida International University College of Law is the law school of Florida International University, located in Miami, Florida in the United States...
.
Strickman was born and raised in New York. His father, a chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
who had lacked the means to go to medical school
Medical school
A medical school is a tertiary educational institution—or part of such an institution—that teaches medicine. Degree programs offered at medical schools often include Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Bachelor/Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Philosophy, master's degree, or other post-secondary...
, hoped to see one of his sons receive a medical degree
Doctor of Medicine
Doctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
. Strickman therefore entered college as a pre-med student, but found himself instead drawn to the study of law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
. Strickman attended Yale Law School
Yale Law School
Yale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
, where he served as member of the Board of Editors on the Yale Law Journal
Yale Law Journal
The Yale Law Journal is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School...
.
His first academic position was as a member of the law faculty at Boston University, which he left to spend two years as Minority Counsel to the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Select Committee on Equal Education Opportunity. He returned to teaching law at the Boston College Law School
Boston College Law School
Boston College Law School is one of the six professional graduate schools at Boston College. Located approximately 1.5 miles from the main Boston College campus in Chestnut Hill, Boston College Law School is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts.With approximately 800 students and...
for nine years, then became Dean and Professor at the Northern Illinois University College of Law
Northern Illinois University College of Law
Northern Illinois University College of Law is a law school in DeKalb, Illinois. The College offers the Juris Doctor degree in both full-time and part-time programs.-History:...
for the next nine years, leading the law school from provisional to full American Bar Association
American Bar Association
The American Bar Association , founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation...
accreditation and membership in the Association of American Law Schools
Association of American Law Schools
The Association of American Law Schools is a non-profit organization of 170 law schools in the United States. Another 25 schools are "non-member fee paid" schools, which are not members but choose to pay AALS dues. Its purpose is to improve the legal profession through the improvement of legal...
. Strickman then served as Dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law
University of Arkansas School of Law
The University of Arkansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas, a state university. It has around 445 students enrolled in its Juris Doctor and Master of Law programs and is home to the federally-funded National Agricultural Law Center and the...
for eight years, during which time he spent six years on the ABA Accreditation Committee. In the 1980s and 1990s, he chaired fifteen accreditation site visits for the ABA.
Strickman joined Florida International University
Florida International University
Florida International University is an American public research university in metropolitan Miami, Florida, in the United States, with its main campus in University Park...
in January, 2001, and has since successfully guided the law school to provisional accreditation at the earliest possible time, in August 2004, and to full accreditation in December 2006. Florida International University School of Law received an initial third-tier ranking in its first year of eligibility in the U.S. News & World Report in 2007.