David Yellan

David Yellen has become the fourth president of Marist College. He took office July 1, succeeding Dennis J. Murray, who stepped down on June 30 after 37 years leading Marist and is now president emeritus and professor of public policy.
Yellen previously was dean and professor of law at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law for a decade. He writes and speaks frequently on legal education, and National Jurist recently named him to the number 7 position on its list of the “25 Most Influential People in Legal Education,” calling him “an innovator for his leadership in the national dialogue addressing today’s challenges facing legal education.” During his tenure, National Jurist also named Loyola University Chicago School of Law one of the nation’s 10 best law schools for experiential learning, and Yellen and his school both earned reputations as innovators in the delivery of legal education. Yellen implemented new degree programs, including online ones, helping Loyola Chicago earn the distinction of enrolling more online students than any other law school in the country. He also created the Dean’s Diversity Council, which helped increase by more than 50 percent the number of students of color enrolled at the school.
Outside of academe, Yellen was appointed special master by Cook County Criminal Division Presiding Judge Paul P. Biebel Jr., working to identify inmates who may be entitled to new trials, having suffered torture by a former Chicago police commander. He also serves on the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council and is a member of the board of directors of Cook County Justice for Children. He has written extensively on sentencing issues and served as an advisor on white-collar crime to President Bill Clinton’s transition team. As an attorney, he has also argued a federal criminal case before the US Supreme Court. 
Yellen earned his JD, cum laude, from Cornell Law School, and his BA, magna cum laude, from Princeton University.
Prior to leading the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, Yellen served as a member of the faculty at Hofstra Law School, where he held the Max Schmertz Distinguished Professorship and served as dean from 2001 to 2004. He was the Reuschlein Distinguished Visiting Professor at Villanova University School of Law and has also taught at Cornell Law School and New York Law School. Before launching his academic career, Yellen clerked for a federal judge, practiced law in Washington, DC, and served as counsel to the Judiciary Committee of the US House of Representatives.

Original Source: Marist Magazine

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