Dean Camille Nelson
Dean Camille Nelson

Dean Camille Nelson Named Among Top Women Leaders in Higher Education

March 25, 2019

Dean Camille Nelson was named among the Top 35 Women in Higher Education by Diverse Issues in Higher Education magazine. Their special section, “Celebrating Women in the Academy,” was released March 21, 2019. Nelson is the only law school dean on the list that features 11 university and college presidents, several vice presidents and provosts, and the president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities among other exceptional professors and administrators.

“I am honored to be included among these outstanding professionals who are as accomplished as they are inspirational,” said Nelson. “It is an incredible privilege to be an educator and this generous recognition is tremendously supportive of our efforts.”

Nelson has been dean at American University Washington College of Law since July 2016. In the past three years under her leadership, the law school has launched a new Health Law and Policy Program, established a new Office of Academic Excellence to support students, enhanced online offerings with a new Master’s in Legal Studies degree, and expanded programmatic endeavors in the areas of Business Law and Environmental Law among other areas.

Nelson previously served as the dean of Suffolk University’s School of Law in Boston and was a professor of law at Hofstra Law School, where she taught courses in Comparative Criminal Law and Transnational Law. Nelson was also a dean’s scholar in residence and visiting professor of law at the Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, where she taught courses in Contracts and Criminal Law.  She began her academic career at Saint Louis University School of Law, where she was recognized as professor of the year.

Nelson began her education at the University of Toronto and then went on to the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law to receive her law degree. She then completed a Master of Laws from Columbia Law School in New York. She was the first Black woman to clerk for the Supreme Court of Canada, the first woman and person of color to have been appointed dean at Suffolk University Law School, and the first Black person ever to be appointed dean at American University Washington College of Law. A prolific researcher, Nelson is an expert on the intersection of critical race theory and cultural studies with particular emphasis on criminal law and procedure, health law, and comparative law.  

 “I am honored to be included among these outstanding professionals who are as accomplished as they are inspirational. It is an incredible privilege to be an educator and this generous recognition is tremendously supportive of our efforts.”

Camille Nelson, Dean and Professor of Law