Howell Jackson '82
Upon Elena Kagan’s departure for the Solicitor General’s Office in mid-March, HLS Professor Howell Jackson ’82 became acting dean of Harvard Law School.
Jackson, who has been on the HLS faculty since 1989 and served as the school’s vice dean for administration and budget from 2003 to 2006, was appointed by Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust to lead the school until a search for Kagan’s replacement is completed.
“Howell Jackson is a first-rate scholar and teacher who has been a core member of the law school’s leadership team in recent years,” said Faust. “Especially at this moment in the life of the law school and the university, we are fortunate to be able to turn to an acting dean who not only is a distinguished academic, but also has deep experience with the school’s administrative and financial matters and a close working knowledge of the ambitious initiatives the school has been pursuing. I’m very grateful to Howell for his readiness to take on this interim role.”
Jackson’s research interests include regulation of financial institutions and financial markets, international finance, Social Security reform and federal budget policy. He is co-editor of “Fiscal Challenges: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Budget Policy” and co-author of “Analytical Methods for Lawyers” and “Regulation of Financial Institutions.”
In January, Jackson testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He called for the Federal Reserve Board to become the primary regulator of financial risk, citing the lack of a central regulatory body as a contributing cause of the current economic downturn. He has also served as a consultant to the U.S. Treasury Department, the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank/International Monetary Fund.
A board assembled to assist in the search for a new dean is made up of Professors William Alford ’77, Anne Alstott, Richard Fallon, Mary Ann Glendon, John Goldberg, Randall Kennedy, Reinier Kraakman, Daryl Levinson, Robert Mnookin ’68, Carol Steiker ’86 and George Triantis.