Meet the new Dean

Professor Carolyn Evan's has been appointed the 15th Dean of Melbourne law School. Professor Evan's will take up her post from 1 February 2011.

Professor Carolyn Evans 

A former Rhodes Scholar, Professor Carolyn Evans (LLB (Hons) 1993) was this year awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholarship to travel as a Visiting Fellow to Washington College of Law at American University and Emory University to examine questions of comparative religious freedom. She is widely regarded as one of the world's foremost experts on the freedom of religion or belief and the relationship between law and religion.

Profession Evans' appointment as Dean follows an exhaustive international and national search. Speaking about her new position, Professor Evans said she was deeply honoured to be offered the role.

"The Law School is a vibrant intellectual community with wonderful staff and students. Working with my colleagues and the students from all our programs will be a great pleasure", Professor Evans said.

As a professor in Melbourne Law School, Professor Evans enjoys a reputation as an inspiring teacher. She has taught in the PhD program, MLM program, LLB program and JD program.

Widely published, Professor Evans has an international research profile. As one of the world's leading scholars of religious freedom, she is regularly invited to speak overseas, including in the United States, United Kingdom, Russia, China, Greece, Vietnam, India, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Malaysia and Nepal.

Professor Evans was Associate Dean (Research) at Melbourne Law School from 2007 to 2010. One of her major achievements was helping to raise the school's research profile. During her term, Melbourne Law School obtained nearly a third of the nationally competitive Australian Research Council Discovery Projects grants in law, which helped to consolidate the school's position as Australia's leading legal research school.

Professor Evans sees 2011 as a year of challenges, but also a year of great possibilities.

"I am looking forward to making the role of the Law School in community service more visible and trying to ensure that we make the Law School accessible to meritorious students from a wide range of backgrounds," Professor Evans said.

"We will be looking to create rich opportunities for our students both inside and outside the classroom – and indeed both inside and outside Australia. We will also be working to ensure that Melbourne Law School remains the leader in legal research in this country and an important contributor to international legal scholarship."

Professor Evans is an alumna of the Law School and sees its former students as creative and valuable contributors to the Melbourne Law School community.

"As an alumna of Melbourne Law School myself, I know that my former fellow students have gone on to excel in a wide variety of careers both inside and outside the legal profession. I am looking forward to the opportunity of getting to know more of our alumni and working with them to ensure that MLS remains Australia's leading law school."

Image: Professor Caroyln Evans

This article originally appeared in MLS News, Issue 4, November 2010.