LaVonda Reed Joins UBalt Law as Dean

LaVonda Reed’s journey to UBalt Law comprised a rich variety of experiences that have instilled resilience, appetite for adventure, and appreciation for diversity.

Growing up in a military family, Reed lived in such exciting locales as Hawaii and Japan. She went to three different high schools as her father, a U.S. Marine Corps officer, was assigned to different posts. While it was not always easy to move that often, she says, she learned how to make friends quickly and maintain those friendships, often over decades. She also learned to embrace change and find common ground with people from many different backgrounds.

Through it all, for many years Maryland was home, and Reed is very happy to be back. She’s excited about the opportunity to build on the strengths of the law school, especially as it approaches its centennial in 2025.

“I was interested in the deanship because I am passionate about the mission of the school: to provide access to students and to be affordable. UBalt Law has a top-notch faculty and a highly regarded clinical program,” Reed says. “And we are in a vibrant and beautiful city.”

Reed comes to Baltimore Law with experience as a dean at Georgia State University College of Law, and as an associate provost and professor at Syracuse University. She has clear goals for her first year in the role.

“I will get to know people, work on strategic planning for the law school, support student and faculty success, and look for opportunities to collaborate with the wider university,” she says. In addition, one of her major goals is to connect with law alumni and friends, she says, and build relationships within the broader legal, nonprofit and corporate communities.

The law school’s first female dean believes good leadership requires confidence, a willingness to listen, a talent for viewing issues from multiple perspectives, and empathy. It’s important, she says, to have “a learning or growth mindset” and to be “reachable but also teachable.”

Her first two job opportunities in Baltimore did not come to fruition. Reed was offered a teaching position at Baltimore Law in 2006, but she went on to accept an offer from Syracuse University, whose School of Communications offered greater collaborative synergies. In 1997, right before graduating from USC Gould School of Law, her judicial clerkship in the U.S. District Court of Maryland fell through when the judge who had hired her passed away before she could start the job.

But Reed has finally succeeded in putting down roots in Baltimore, a short drive from her mother in Prince George’s County, and an easy train ride from New Haven, where her daughter Madelynn is a sophomore at Yale University. She is excited about reconnecting with her friends, extended family and professional colleagues throughout the region.

“I am so happy to be here!,” says Reed. “You know what they say, the third time’s the charm!”