By Andrew Cohen
Professor Andrew Guzman, who oversaw expansion of Berkeley Law’s international programs, has been named dean at the University of Southern California (USC) Gould School of Law. He begins his new position on July 1.
“I owe so much to Berkeley Law,” said Guzman, the school’s associate dean for International and Advanced Degree Programs. “It is where I started my career, where I developed my voice as a scholar. Leaving this wonderful institution is the most difficult decision I have made in my professional career.”
Guzman, who began teaching at Berkeley Law in 1998, has played a key role in expanding its global reach. Under his leadership, the school’s traditional track LL.M. program has enjoyed steady growth, and he was instrumental in developing the innovative professional track program—which allows international lawyers to earn a Master of Laws degree over two consecutive summers.
USC Interim Provost Michael Quick announced the appointment to his USC colleagues in Los Angeles Tuesday morning, calling Guzman a respected leader in his field.
“He has distinguished himself as a scholar whose expertise draws on an unparalleled perspective of complex legal issues,” Quick said. “His exceptional experience will be a valuable resource for our students, and, under his leadership, the USC Gould School of Law will further advance excellence in legal education.”
Current USC dean Robert K. Rasmussen, who has led USC Gould for the past seven years, echoed the provost. “There is no better person to lead this law school than Andrew Guzman…He is a wonderful teacher, a leading international scholar, and a talented administrator.”
As associate dean, Guzman helped reinvigorate Berkeley Law’s International and Executive Legal Education (IELE) Program in the fall of 2013. Thanks in part to his outreach with attorneys and academics overseas, the program has enjoyed a sharp increase in certificate training for government officials and private-sector executives. This academic year, IELE will serve more than 255 legal practitioners from around the world through certificate programs, and more than 200 lawyers and specialists through customized training sessions.
Guzman’s far-reaching connections have also enabled Berkeley Law to forge meaningful partnerships with academic institutions worldwide.
“Andrew’s tenure here has been marked by professionalism, rigorous scholarship, entrepreneurship, and a forward thinking that has benefitted Berkeley Law greatly,” Dean Sujit Choudhry said. “The school’s international programs would simply not be where they are today without his leadership… I’m confident that USC will be in great hands.”
Guzman has taught more than a dozen courses on international law and economics. He writes extensively on topics that include international trade, global regulatory matters, and foreign investment law; and his six books include Overheated: The Human Cost of Climate Change—published in 2013.
Guzman has served on the Board of Editors for six academic journals and has held many leadership positions with the American Society of International Law. He is also a member of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration’s Academic Council.
At Berkeley Law, Guzman has provided curricular guidance for the school’s doctorate level J.S.D. Program, and ramped up faculty involvement in the LL.M. application review process. He also served as faculty director of the Miller Institute on Global Challenges and the Law.
“The students at Berkeley have been fantastic and have taught me so much over the years,” he said. “I am endlessly impressed by their talent, their drive, and their successes when they leave the school.”
After earning both a J.D. and a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard in 1996, Guzman clerked for a year in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit before arriving in Berkeley. He has held visiting faculty positions at several prominent universities, and spent six summers at the University of Hamburg in Germany.
Guzman said he is “indebted to the many, many colleagues who have made my years at Berkeley so fulfilling.” He expressed particular gratitude for Professor Herma Hill Kay, who hired him while dean, and former Dean Christopher Edley, Jr., “who gave me the opportunity to serve as associate dean and trusted me with responsibilities that have led me to this new opportunity at USC.”