Browne Lewis, the dean of North Carolina Central University School of Law, was found dead in her hotel room on Thursday, June 2. She had been attending the LSAC annual conference in Denver with colleagues. No cause of death has yet been released by the university.
NCCU Chancellor Johnson Akinleye released a statement breaking the news and spoke of the many things Lewis had accomplished during her career. She was appointed almost two years ago and was focused on making the school a better, more inclusive place for students.
“Her vision was clear from Day One in leading the school as one that provides unique opportunities for diverse, talented future attorneys to be practice-ready practitioners in their chosen legal careers,” Akinleye said.
During her tenure, the school received multiple gifts from corporations and foundations, including a $5 million contribution from Intel that helped create the NCCU-Intel Tech Law and Policy Center. It’s the first of its kind at an HBCU. Akinleye called it the only tech and law policy center that focuses on technology disparities and social justice.
Lewis was recently interviewed by Attorney at Law magazine and Akinleye shared the following excerpt that exemplifies Lewis’s passion:
“The key value I want to imprint on the law school is overcoming the impossible through hard work, perseverance, and tenacity. It is important to overcome adversity and realize that you can accomplish any goal even if you do it in bite-sized pieces. I’m one of 12 children from a family in a small country town in Louisiana. I grew up knowing that you have to persevere, overcome adversity, and keep pushing forward. Likewise, NCCU School of Law is one of only six HBCU law schools in the country. We’re the underdog pushing forward.”
Prior to NCCU, she was a professor at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law from 2010 to 2020, and University of Detroit Mercy School of Law from 2003 to 2007.
She earned her J.D. from University of Minnesota in 1988 and an LL.M. from University of Houston Law Center in 1997.
