In 2009, Nancy Perkins became Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Duquesne University School of Law.
In 2009, Nancy Perkins served as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at Duquesne University School of Law. This was a significant leadership role, reflecting the confidence placed in her as both a teacher and an administrator.
Academic-dean roles shape curriculum, faculty support, and the educational experience of students, so the position carried real institutional influence. Perkins’s background in property law, environmental law, and legal writing gave her a broad perspective on the training of future lawyers. Her leadership also aligned with a period when law schools were increasingly attentive to interdisciplinary legal education and to the civic implications of environmental policy, sustainability, and equity.
The milestone is historically meaningful because women’s advancement into senior administrative roles in law schools has often lagged behind their participation in legal education more generally. Perkins’s service at the associate-dean level demonstrates both individual achievement and the broader normalization of women’s leadership within legal academia. It also underscores the importance of faculty who combine scholarship, mentoring, and administration in shaping law-school culture over time.