University of San Diego Names Law School Dean

Kristine Strachan, a University of Utah law professor, has been named dean of the University of San Diego School of Law, making her the first woman in the school’s history to hold the post and one of just a handful of female law school deans in the nation.

Strachan succeeds Sheldon Krantz, who resigned the post at the end of the 1987-88 academic term to complete a book on the future of the legal profession.

Active in national legal education groups and a leading advocate of curriculum reform for law schools, Strachan, 45, was selected after a yearlong search by a 14-member committee, which included faculty, students and alumni. The law school at the University of San Diego, a private Catholic institution, is considered the top law school in the San Diego area.

The school’s new dean is married to Salt Lake City lawyer Gordon C. Strachan, who was indicted in the Watergate scandal in 1974 but was granted immunity for his testimony before a Senate committee. Charges against him were dismissed in March, 1975.

Professor Lester Snyder, chairman of the search committee, called Kristine Strachan “an outstanding teacher,” whose extensive national connections will enhance the university’s reputation outside the West and attract prestigious faculty, particularly women and minorities.

“She has practiced law, she has written, she has taught, she is extraordinarily well-liked by her colleagues in Utah,” Snyder said. “We think all of those add up to an exceptional candidate for dean.”

Strachan, who has two teen-age children, said in a telephone interview Thursday from Salt Lake City that she was “thrilled” with her new job, which she will begin in mid-August.

“This is a rare and outstanding opportunity to take what is a very good school and make it one that will rival the very best,” said Strachan, who grew up in Palos Verdes.

She attended The Bishop’s School in La Jolla before going on to USC and Boalt Hall, the law school at UC Berkeley.

Strachan’s selection brings to 11 the number of women who occupy the top post at law schools accredited by the American Bar Assn. There are 175 such schools.