The dean at CUNY Law for a decade, Michelle J. Anderson has been named the 10th president of Brooklyn College, effective Aug. 1.
The Board of Trustees of The City University of New York approved the appointment after a national search.
Anderson had announced in October she would be stepping down as dean of CUNY Law, a position she had held since 2006.
Anderson had overseen a period of great renewal and transformation in development, facilities, programs and recognition. During her tenure, CUNY Law strengthened its public interest mission, increased its academic standards and was named the “Best Public Interest Law School” by preLaw magazine. The School had an unbroken string of national top 10 U.S. News & World Report rankings for “Best Clinical Training,” and it currently ranks third nationally. It also achieved Princeton Review’s national top 10 rankings for “Best Law Professors” and “Most Diverse Faculty,” and earned the National Jurist ranking as the second most diverse law school in the nation for both faculty and student body diversity.
Under Anderson’s leadership, CUNY Law moved from a converted junior high school building in Flushing, Queens, to a new LEED gold-certified facility in Long Island City. CUNY Law launched a number of groundbreaking initiatives, as well, including the Pipeline to Justice Program, the Incubator Program, the Community & Economic Development Clinic, the Center for Urban Environmental Reform, the Center on Latino and Latina Rights & Equality, and the Sorensen Center for International Peace and Justice.
Anderson will succeed Karen L. Gould, the first woman to serve as Brooklyn College’s president.
