Lincoln Davies named next dean of Moritz College of Law

Lincoln Davies, an energy law and policy expert and award-winning scholar and teacher, has been selected as the 20th dean of the Moritz College of Law, Executive Vice President and Provost Bruce A. McPheron announced last week.

Pending approval by the Board of Trustees, Davies’ term will be effective July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2024.

“We are excited to welcome Lincoln to the Moritz College and to The Ohio State University community. I look forward to working with him as we continue the college’s ambitious agenda,” McPheron said. “The Moritz College of Law is a national exemplar of the path forward for legal education and will continue to advance as one of our nation’s great public law schools.”

Davies succeeds Dean Alan C. Michaels, who will return to the faculty after leading the college since 2008.

“This is wonderful news for our college. I’m thrilled that Lincoln will be joining our Moritz community,” Michaels said. “Lincoln comes to the deanship with an outstanding record of excellence and success as an educator, scholar, administrator and lawyer. Under Dean Davies’ leadership, the college will continue to advance its vision to be one of the nation’s great law schools, providing transformational outcomes through our teaching and research.”

Davies comes to Ohio State following 12 years of service at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, where he is currently the associate dean for academic affairs and holds the Hugh B. Brown Presidential Endowed Chair in Law. His research focuses on energy law, policy and regulation, and his teaching includes administrative law, civil procedure, energy law, judicial process, and law, religion and environmentalism.

At Utah, he was recognized with awards for excellence in both teaching and research and has held leadership positions with responsibility for both the curriculum and faculty research. Davies also has served as a visiting professor at leading international law schools, including Seoul National University and the University of Sydney.

“I am delighted to be joining Ohio State and the Moritz Law community,” Davies said. “The Moritz College of Law is a truly special place that, under the tremendous leadership of Dean Michaels, has not only reached new heights but has become a national leader in legal education. I look forward to working with the faculty, staff, students and alumni to help our school continue to gain in national stature, partner in more robust ways across the university and community, expand its impact on society and deepen our pursuit of excellence.”

Davies earned his BS in natural resources and environment from the University of Michigan, where he graduated with honors and distinction and was ranked first in his class, and his JD from Stanford University, where he was a member of law review, served as editor-in-chief of the environmental law journal, and earned the Olaus & Adolph Murie Award for the most thoughtful written work in environmental law.

Prior to joining the law faculty at Utah in 2007, he practiced in the Washington, D.C., office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP. In 2001, he served as a clerk to Leonard H. Russon, associate chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court. Davies is the co-author of three books, another that is forthcoming, and nearly 30 law review articles, essays and peer-reviewed scholarly papers. For over a decade, he has served on the Utah Supreme Court’s Advisory Committee on the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure. Davies also has held positions as principal investigator for the Institute for Clean and Secure Energy and as chair of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Energy Infrastructure and Siting.

Recognized internationally as an expert in energy law and policy, his research portfolio spans a broad array of energy topics, including renewables and alternative energy, utility regulation, carbon capture and sequestration, nuclear power, and regulatory and technology innovation. Davies is a leading authority on laws designed to promote renewable energy, including state renewable portfolio standards (RPSs) and feed-in tariffs (FITs). In 2013, he was awarded the McCloy Fellowship in Environmental Policy to conduct comparative research on U.S. and German renewable energy law.

During Dean Michaels’ tenure, the College of Law continually enhanced the strength of the training offered to students. The college reported record-breaking years in fundraising and the recruitment of twenty-one new faculty members and an increasingly diversified staff. Under Dean Michaels’ leadership, difference-making research continued in areas of national prominence, such as election law and alternative dispute resolution. With the foundation of the Program on Data and Governance, the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center, and the Program on Law, Finance and Governance, the College has expanded its impact in cutting-edge areas of the law.