MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – A new chapter in leadership at the West Virginia
University College of Law will begin when Amelia Smith Rinehart takes over as
the Dean on June 30. Rinehart most recently served as associate dean of academic
affairs and professor at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law in
Salt Lake City.
“President Gee and Provost Reed are really doing some
amazing, innovative things there,” Rinehart said,” It’s a really good
opportunity to take a small law school and think about the things that it can do
here as we face some uncertain and challenging times.”
Additionally,
Rinehart has a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees from Tulane
University in biomedical engineering and has served as an engineer at the
Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. She believes her diverse background
helps her build teams that focus on identifying and solving problems.
“I
think my background has led to a place where I believe deeply in careful and
delberative problem solving and thinking outside the box,” Rinehart said,”
Thinking of how teams can achieve greatness together and being collaborative
with people in your building and outside of it.”
Rinehart has a
reputation an an innovator and officials at WVU say here performance in senior
administration roles give her the experience needed to lead the WVU College of
Law into the future.
“Tying back into President Gee’s Land Grant
mission, I think what legal education means at West Virginia and what the
uniqueness of the place is,” Rinehart said,” And how we bring that out into the
community.”
Rinehart’s legal expertise is in contract, intellectual
property and patent law. All very important topics in international relations
today.
“All of the ways in which we think about commercialization and
technology transfer,” Rinehart said,” I think it will continue to be as relevant
as now and I think it adds on that international layer.”
Rinehart will
begin her work at WVU on June 30 and plans to move to the Morgantown area in the
spring. She has one very enthusiastic message for students in the WVU College of
Law.
“Get excited! This is going to be a fun time to be part of the law
school,” Rinehart said,” I think the law school can do some really great things
and we’re going to carry all of those forward. It’s going to be a challenging
time in education generally.”