David Van Zandt has made a career out of touching third rails in higher ed

When David Van Zandt became dean of what is now Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law in 1995, he faced a steep learning curve, he tells the ABA Journal’s Jason Tashea. But he had a good sense of the demands on recent graduates and lawyers. He also took on faculty hiring and tenure–a third rail in higher education–by hiring those for tenure track positions with not only JDs, but PhDs. Named an ABA Journal Legal Rebel in 2009, Van Zandt is now the president of the New School in New York. Whether grappling with political issues of the day or an oppositional faculty, Van Zandt has continually forged ahead for the changes he believes in.

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