Top Legal Mind

Anthony E. Varona, dean and professor of law at Seattle University School of Law, has been recognized as one of the 20 most influential legal educators in the nation by The National Jurist. The publication characterizes the 20 featured leaders as “major forces in shaping legal education” with Dean Varona coming in at #18 on the list.

“This recognition reflects the influence and leadership of my brilliant Seattle University School of Law faculty and staff colleagues and our extraordinary alumni—so many of them leaders in service of justice—more than it says anything about me,” says Dean Varona.

An award-winning teacher and scholar, and longtime leader in legal education, Dean Varona is especially known for spearheading curricular and programmatic innovations in technology and the law, internationalization, and diversifying the legal profession and legal education itself.

“It is gratifying to see Dean Varona receive this well-deserved national recognition of his innovative leadership. Seattle University is fortunate to have such an energetic and visionary leader guiding our law school,” said President Eduardo Peñalver, who is also a professor of law.

Throughout his more than three-decade career in law, Varona has had an outsized influence on legal education by working tirelessly to improve legal education outcomes for students and to make law school more accessible to students from a range of backgrounds, especially those from underrepresented and marginalized communities.

Read more about Dean Varona and this honor.