Sudha Setty will be the First Person of South Asian Descent to Lead a CUNY School. Known as an exceptional legal educator, collaborative leader, and successful litigator

FREMONT CA: Sudha Setty, an exceptional scholar, and experienced and collaborative legal leader, has been named dean of the CUNY School of Law, the nation's leading public interest law school and New York City's only publicly funded law school, by the Board of Trustees of The City University of New York. She is the first woman of South Asian ancestry to lead a CUNY institution.

Since 2018, Setty has served as dean of the Western New England University School of Law, making her the first woman of South Asian descent to lead an American Bar Association-accredited law school in the United States. She was previously the associate dean for faculty development and intellectual life at the school. She has been a member of the faculty at the school since 2006, and she has been named Professor of the Year three times: in 2009, 2016, and 2018. Eduardo R.C. Capulong, who has served in an interim capacity since March 2021, is succeeded by Setty. The appointment will begin on July 1, 2022, and last for two years.

Chancellor Félix V. Matos Rodrguez said, "Dean Setty brings to CUNY a demonstrated ability to combine visionary goal-setting with deft governance, as well as to construct, fund, and sustain the programs that realize those goals." Her breadth of experience and commitment to using legal education to advance social justice will help the Law School maintain its position as the nation's top public-interest law school. She is a valuable asset to CUNY.

Setty's deanship at Western New England University School of Law has focused on enhancing the school's social justice work and commitment to racial justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. In 2019, she oversaw the establishment of the Center for Social Justice. The Center serves as a framework for faculty and student work in social justice law, including economic justice, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrant rights, access to justice, and other areas of social justice law, with funding from foundations, alumni, and individual donors. She expanded racial justice programming and student support, and she led the faculty in making racial justice coursework a graduation requirement. Dean Setty co-hosted the first Workshop for Asian-American Women in Legal Academia in 2021, attracting over 100 participants to engage in professional development, scholarship support, and community building.