Wendy Perdue

University of Richmond Law School Dean Wendy Perdue to Step Down After Next Academic Year, Will Remain on Faculty

March 5, 2025

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND — Wendy Perdue, dean of the University of Richmond School of Law, has announced her plans to step down as dean at the end of the 2025­–26 academic year. Perdue has served as the law school dean since 2011 and will remain on the UR faculty as a professor of law following a sabbatical.

“Dean Perdue’s leadership, vision, and dedication have positively and permanently impacted our law school and the University of Richmond,” said Joan Saab, executive vice president and provost. “I am grateful to Dean Perdue for her thoughtful and steadfast leadership, deep commitment to the Richmond School of Law, and dedication to our faculty, staff, and students. The law school has flourished under her direction, and she has built a strong foundation for continued success.”

Significant accomplishments and progress during Perdue’s tenure include:

  • Building a premier first-year Legal Writing Program.
  • Launching the Professional Identity Program, which has become a model nationwide.
  • Establishing the post-graduate Bridge to Practice Program that has helped more than 150 graduates launch their careers.
  • Engaging alumni, the legal community, and many others in supporting the law school’s excellence, primarily through significantly increasing fundraising and strengthening the law alumni network.
  • Completing a renovation that transformed the law school building into a modern, inviting environment that meets the needs of the Richmond Law School community.

Perdue is a recognized leader nationally in legal education. During her time as UR’s law dean, she served as president of the Association of American Law Schools, was inducted into the Virginia Lawyers Hall of Fame for her career accomplishments and contributions to the bar and Virginia’s legal system, and was named as a Virginia Lawyers Weekly 2025 Circle of Excellence honoree, for her level of achievement and record of leadership.

By the start of next semester, the University will launch a national search to identify her successor.  

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