Boalt Names Professor as Interim Dean

Acting to replace an administrator who resigned over a sexual harassment complaint, UC Berkeley on Wednesday named one of its longtime professors to serve as interim dean of Boalt Hall law school.

The professor is Robert C. Berring Jr., 53, who for the last 20 years has taught at the law school and directed the law library. He will replace John P. Dwyer, 51, who is stepping down effective Jan. 1 after the harassment complaint linked to an encounter he had two years ago with a student then at Boalt.

Berring, a popular professor who writes an advice column for students under the pen name “Uncle Zeb,” graduated from Harvard in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in government and Chinese studies.

He later earned both his law degree and a master’s degree in library and information studies at Berkeley.

He said he is still studying the key issues he will face in the new role.

“I started out as a law librarian, and teaching about China. And Confucius said that wisdom lies in knowing what you don’t know,” he said. “That makes me a very wise man right now, because there’s a world I don’t know.”

Asked how he would respond to assertions recently by women’s groups that Boalt has not acted adequately to prevent sexual harassment, Berring said he wants to “make it as good an environment for students as possible, so I’ll be open to talking to anybody about anything.”

His appointment was praised by Laura Stevens, the lawyer representing the former Boalt student who lodged the complaint against Dwyer.

“It’s critical right now in this moment of transition and change that they have someone who is such a good choice,” Stevens said. “He is respected by women faculty, the students -- he’s a good, sensible, funny fellow.”

UC Berkeley said it is putting together a committee to conduct a nationwide search, beginning in early 2003, for a permanent dean for the law school. Berring said he has not decided whether to put his name in the running.

University Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl, in a statement, called Berring “the ideal person to lead the law school during the search for a permanent dean. He has substantial administrative experience, enjoys the widespread respect and trust of his colleagues and students, and has experience reaching out to alumni and other friends of the law school.”

Berring, a native of Canton, Ohio, is married and has two sons.

He lives in Oakland with his second wife, Leslie, who was registrar of the law school until leaving the job two years ago.

The appointment was also lauded by Valerie Meyer, editor-in-chief of the Berkeley Women’s Law Journal. “He’s well-known among the students,” she said.

Meyer added that Berring is known for his open-door policy. If a student has “difficulties or problems, he’s always willing to talk,” she said.