WASHINGTON - Howard University is pleased to announce the appointment of Lisa A. Crooms-Robinson, J.D., as interim dean of the Howard University School of Law. Crooms-Robinson is an internationally respected expert on constitutional law and human rights and has served as a faculty member of the School of Law since 1993. She will report to Anthony Wutoh, PhD, RPh, provost and chief academic officer. 

Crooms-Robinson is an alumna of Howard University, earning a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1984 prior to completing her J.D. at the University of Michigan Law School in 1991. Since joining Howard Law’s faculty in 1993, Crooms-Robinson has published 23 journal articles and book chapters and co-authored or edited three books, including “The Oxford Handbook of African American Citizenship, 1865-present.” She has also written opinion pieces for media outlets including NBC, The Root, Huffington Post, Roll Call, and The Daily Kos. 

Crooms-Robinson was a Fulbright Scholar (2002-03) and a visiting scholar at Emory University Law School’s Feminist Legal Theory Project (2008). She has also been a consultant for human rights organizations including the United Nations, the U.S. Human Rights Network, the Urban Justice Center, Amnesty International – U.S.A., and the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice. In addition, Crooms-Robinson has been featured in books including “Bringing Human Rights Home: A History of Human Rights in the United States” and “Practical Audacity: Black Women and International Human Rights.” 

From 2012-2019, Crooms-Robinson served as the School of Law’s Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. In 2015, she was appointed as University Marshal, making her the first woman to hold that position. In 2017, she worked with immediate past dean Danielle Holley to organize a symposium entitled, “Singing of a New America: Pauli Murray’s Legacy and Justice in the 21st Century.” She was also chosen to deliver the second annual Pauli Murray Endowed Lecture in 2023, “Pauli’s Gospel: Justice at the Intersection of Law and Theology.”  

At present, Crooms-Robinson teaches Constitutional Law and seminar courses including “Supreme Court Jurisprudence” and “Equality According to Pauli.” She is the co-chair of the Center for Constitutional Rights’ Board of Trustees and a member of Kingdom Fellowship A.M.E. Church in Calverton, MD. 

“I applaud Dean Crooms-Robinson on her years of service to her alma mater and her appointment as interim dean of the School of Law,” said Wayne A. I. Frederick, MD, MBA, president of Howard University. “Further, I want to extend my congratulations and gratitude once more to President-elect Danielle Holley for her dedicated stewardship of the School of Law these past nine years. We wish her all the best as she officially begins her journey at Mount Holyoke College.” 

The University is currently conducting a national search for the School of Law’s next permanent dean, and the search committee has notified me of the three finalists for the position. We intend to finalize our decision soon after this final phase of the search process. 

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