|
|
|
|
 |
t’s the end of an era that will forever be remembered as “the Bice years.” On June 30, the USC Law School graduate who went on to become one of the school’s most popular and longest-serving deans will relinquish his administrative duties and return to teaching.
Scott Bice ’65, JD ’68 has led USC Law School since 1980, making him the third most senior sitting dean of any ABA-accredited law school and the longest serving of any current USC dean. In the school’s 100-year history, only Frank Monroe Porter, who held the deanship from 1904 until 1927, has served longer than Bice.
His tenure has been marked by a dramatic improvement in the law school’s quality, a near doubling in the size of its facilities and three successful fund-raising campaigns, culminating in the $50 million campaign slated to conclude this year.
A constitutional scholar who clerked for Chief Justice Earl Warren of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1968-69, Bice has overseen the school’s continued rise from a regional institution that drew most of its students from Southern California to a nationally recognized institution that draws about two-thirds of its enrollments from elsewhere.
During his tenure, the school expanded its reputation for interdisciplinary legal scholarship and built strong programs in law and economics, law and humanities and clinical education.
“Scott is the consummate teacher, scholar and administrator,” says USC President Steven B. Sample. “On all levels, he has brought the law school to national prominence through his visionary and inspiring leadership.”
In the sharp-elbowed world of legal academics, Bice is known for his conflict-deflating management style, which had become one of the school’s most effective tools for recruiting new faculty.
“In other schools, there’s so much politics and dissension that a lot of time is spent challenging the administration,” says law school veteran Larry G. Simon, who holds the school’s H.W. Armstrong Professorship in Cons-titutional Law. “We have none of that here, and we attribute that to [Bice].”
George Lefcoe, an-other veteran faculty member and holder of the Florine and Ervin Yoder Professorship in Real Estate Law, calls the school “as well-managed as exists in this country, and we owe a good deal of that to Scott.”
Such praise isn’t unusual. Faculty twice talked Bice out of leaving the deanship – once at the end of his first 10 years in office, and again in 1995, at the end of his third five-year term.
“It’s nice when your colleagues appreciate what you’re doing,” Bice says. “I’ve found the dean’s job rewarding and stimulating – and obviously I liked it, because I’ve stayed a long time. But I think institutions benefit from having a change in leadership from time to time. You hope that all the good things that have been accomplished continue, but fresh eyes are going to see new opportunities and see new directions that could be undertaken.”
A SECOND-GENERATION TROJAN, Bice earned both his JD and his undergraduate degree in business at USC – following in the footsteps of his parents, Virginia S. and Fred H. Bice, both of whom attended the university. A law professorship was established in the couple’s name in 1989.
“People who move around to several different institutions, of course, make significant contributions, but being at USC my entire adult life has given me a special sense of dedication to, and identification with, this institution,” Bice says. “I’ve invested heavily in the progress of the law school and university with a deep sense of attachment and continuity.”
Bice has kept a hand in teaching during his years as an administrator, offering one course a year in torts. His return to full-time teaching promises to be a boon for students.
Mark Weinstein, an associate professor of finance and business economics in USC’s Marshall School of Business, recalls sitting in on one of Bice’s classes. “He was the single best classroom teacher I’ve ever seen,” recalls Weinstein. “He has a remarkable gift.”
After leaving the deanship, Bice will take a one-year sabbatical. In addition to research activities, he and his wife Barbara plan to spend time on their powerboat, cruising to Mexico in the winter. When he returns to USC, Bice will resume teaching his signature torts course, and may add constitutional law or professional responsibility to his load.
|
|
