Woman Appointed Law College Dean
The Santa Barbara and Ventura colleges of law will have their first woman dean heading up the campuses.
Heather Cissna Georgakis, a former lawyer with the Santa Barbara firm Archbald & Spray, was selected by the law school trustees in November to head both campuses.
Georgakis is replacing Donald Bright, who resigned after 14 months as dean, Assistant Dean Barbara Doyle said. Accredited by the California State Bar, the campuses offer part-time evening sessions for adult students to receive law degrees.
Georgakis, a graduate of UCLA, has been practicing law in the area since 1980. She has been a faculty member at the law school since 1987, teaching civil procedure, agency and legal research writing.
Georgakis said she hopes to strengthen the schools’ academic program. The Ventura campus, with about 175 students, was founded in 1969. The Santa Barbara campus, with about 145 students, was founded in 1975.
“I will work to nurture the schools’ existing relationships with the bench and Bar to enhance the schools’ contributions to the local communities they serve through their legal clinics and externship programs,” she said.
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