Dean Clark Honored by Academy, Bar, & More for Leadership in Higher Education

Photo courtesy of USC Gould School of Law

Fritz B. Burns Dean Brietta R. Clark has been honored for her leadership by the legal academy, bar organizations, and the media over the course of the spring 2025 semester.

On the March 31 panel, Trailblazing Women in Law Leadership, Clark joined fellow USC Gould School of Law alumni Lisa Kloppenberg, professor of law and dean emerita at Santa Clara University, and LaVonda Reed, dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law, in a discussion about the future of legal education and their paths to leadership. Moderated by USC Gould Dean Franita Tolson, the panel offered participants the chance to opine on their career arcs.

In her remarks, Clark said the LMU Loyola Law School (LLS) community and her passion for teaching drew her from private practice into her higher education career at LLS, where she finds inspiration in the school’s mission to provide a legal education to those from an array of backgrounds. “The teaching just fed me,” said Clark, who was installed as Loyola’s 19^th dean on Sept. 8, 2024.

Clark admitted that when her colleagues first encouraged her to pursue LLS’ dean vacancy, she was surprised: “It hadn’t occurred to me that people were seeing me that way.” Clark had served in myriad institutional capacities by then, motivated solely by a desire to serve the community. "Because I believed in the community so much, I ended up becoming a leader in ways I didn’t recognize…I just really wanted to be in the mix. I wanted to help with pipeline programs, hiring faculty, and ensuring the faculty we hired would be successful and get tenure -- all because this is what I thought I should do to help create the community I wanted to see.”

The opportunity to serve as interim dean for the 2023-2024 academic year led Clark to reflect on her journey and realize that the deanship was the best way she could contribute to meeting the current needs of the LMU Loyola Law School community. With the support and insight of colleagues, mentors, and loved ones, Clark came to see how her history as a servant leader of the law school for over two decades prepared her for the call to leadership and strengthened her resolve to answer that call.

Elsewhere, Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine named Clark to its 2025 list of 4 0 Women Making a Difference in the World of Academia. “Clark has used her extensive experience to elevate the law school’s curriculum, guide students and alumni on their career paths, and influence the public discourse through her scholarship, public service, and media commentary,” the feature said in commending Clark. “Since joining the law school faculty in 2001, Clark has been instrumental in developing and implementing the law school’s strategic vision to increase access to legal education and advance Loyola’s mission of academic excellence with real-world impact.”

Meanwhile, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association (APABA) invited Dean Clark to participate in its April 1 event, Recent Trailblazers in the Law. The soiree celebrated the experiences and achievements of inspiring "firsts" in the legal profession, which noted Clark is the first woman and Black person to serve as dean of LLS.