Jack Wade Nowlin will take over for Interim Dean Rick Rosen at the Texas Tech School of Law on July 15.
Nowlin was one of four finalists for the position.
“The Texas Tech University School of Law is a great school with great traditions,” Nowlin said in a news release. “I will lead the law school community in finding new ways to make this great school even better.”
Nowlin grew up in Texas but has been at the University of Mississippi since 2000, having served there as a Public Law Fellow, lecturer, associate dean for faculty development and senior associate dean. Nowlin says he is excited to return to his Texas roots.
“I am so pleased to come back home to Texas after so many years away,” Nowlin said in the release. “West Texas is a wonderful place with wonderful people, and I still have family here. I know that this is the start of something truly special.”
Thanks to his time directing the University of Mississippi faculty workshop program, Nowlin will bring with him fresh and extensive experience in faculty development.
Additionally, he has experience in strategic planning with his organization of the Mississippi Law School’s Constitution Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day events.
Nowlin completed his bachelor’s degree with Angelo State University in 1991 and earned his juris doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law, where he served as a Townes-Rive Scholar and articles editor of the Texas International Law Journal, in 1994.
Outside of his work with faculty, Nowlin has taught courses from constitutional law and criminal procedure to academic law and jurisprudence. While at the University of Mississippi, he was named Professor of the Year in both 2006 and 2012. He has also taught Fourth Amendment law to trial and appellate judges and has authored more than 30 articles, book chapters and reviews.
“We are very excited that Dr. Nowlin is returning to his Texas roots to become the next dean of the School of Law,” said Texas Tech Provost Michael Galyean. “Jack brings just the right combination of scholarship, administrative experience, people skills and leadership ability to this position, and I am confident of a bright future for the School of Law under his guidance.”