People

Leary to support students in new dean's role

Leary

Whiting Dimock Leary is the new senior assistant dean of students at the University of Colorado Law School.

"We are delighted that Whiting has decided to return to Colorado Law and will be joining our leadership team," said Dean David Getches. "She will be an exceptionally qualified asset to our students and our entire community."

Leary recently served as a career manager at Nixon Peabody and as a senior career adviser at Shannon and Manch, advising lawyers and law students on career transitions and career management skills, and participating in firm management.

A 1996 graduate of the CU Law School and a 1992 graduate of Williams College, she has done graduate work in counseling at Johns Hopkins. Leary began her legal practice as a transactional lawyer at Sutherland Asbill and Brennan and then at Dow Lohnes in Washington, D.C. Her work experience also includes the role of vice president of Trammell Crow Co., a real estate brokerage and development firm. 

The redesigned dean of students position is responsible for supporting the school's 550 students, including student counseling, student organization assistance, academic support, student fee allocation, and oversight of the Loan Repayment Assistance Program. The position also will oversee the assistant deans for admissions and financial aid and career development.

"The dean of students exists to support Colorado Law students and maximize their experience ... to advocate for students, provide access to academic support, assist with personal matters, develop enrichment programs and support and coordinate activities," Leary said. "Colorado Law is an amazing and supportive community. I look forward to working with the students and helping them cultivate and foster a positive community."

Gruber brings criminal law expertise to CU Law School

Gruber

Aya Gruber will teach criminal law, criminal procedure and international criminal law at the CU Law School.

She was a professor at the University of Iowa College of Law and an associate professor and founding faculty member at Florida International University College of Law, South Florida's first public law school.

Gruber's research interests are substantive criminal law; critical race and feminism; and foreign relations and comparative law. Her articles have been published in prominent law reviews and she has presented scholarship at many academic conferences and colloquia. A frequent public speaker on criminal justice, Gruber has appeared on Fox News International, ABC and PBS, and is quoted in various news outlets, including Wired Magazine, the Miami Herald and the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel.

After law school, Gruber clerked on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida and then served as a felony trial attorney with the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C., securing a nearly 80 percent acquittal rate, and Federal Public Defender in Miami.

Gruber earned her undergraduate degree in philosophy at the University of California at Berkeley, graduating summa cum laude, with departmental honors, and Phi Beta Kappa. She then attended Harvard Law School, from which she graduated magna cum laude, and served as an editor on the Women's Law Journal and International Law Journal.

Dropping names ...

Hildebrand

Laroche

David Hildebrand, associate professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado Denver, has accepted an invitation to be a visiting Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies in Finland for the month of September during his sabbatical leave this semester. The Collegium's purpose is to enhance scholarly excellence within humanities and social sciences and provide an innovative environment for concentrated study. Hildebrand will present his recent research in talks and seminars to other Fellows, local scholars and advanced students; he also will collaborate with other researchers working in philosophical pragmatism. The trip is partially supported by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dissemination Grant. ... Rebecca Laroche, associate professor of English at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, is author of the recently published "Authority and Englishwomen's Herbal Texts, 1550-1650" (Ashgate Publishing, Surrey, England).

Want to suggest a colleague — or yourself — for People? Please e-mail information to Jay.Dedrick@cu.edu