Usha R. Rodrigues, associate dean for faculty development, M.E. Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law and University Professor, has been named the next dean of the University of Georgia School of Law. She will begin her new role on Jan. 1, 2025, when Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge steps down as dean after 10 years of service.
“During her tenure at the University of Georgia, I have come to know Usha Rodrigues as a distinguished teacher, a respected scholar and an extraordinary university citizen,” said President Jere W. Morehead. “She has a deep commitment to the School of Law and the University of Georgia, and she has a clear vision for advancing the school’s outstanding reputation as one of the best public law schools in the nation.”
Rodrigues’ appointment follows a nationwide search. A 15-member search advisory committee chaired by Ben Ayers, dean of the Terry College of Business, helped identify finalists for the position.
“It is a true honor to have been chosen to serve as the next dean of the University of Georgia School of Law,” said Rodrigues. “Working with our terrific faculty, students, staff and alumni, I hope to build on our strengths as we continue to redefine what it means to be a great national public law school. I am so grateful to be a part of this community.”
A member of the UGA faculty since 2005, Rodrigues also served as UGA’s interim vice provost for academic affairs from 2022 to 2023. Her teaching and research focus is on corporate law, business ethics and United States securities regulation, and she is often cited as an expert on special purpose acquisition companies.
As associate dean for faculty development, Rodrigues leads the School of Law’s promotion and tenure unit and supports faculty scholarship. She first held this position from 2015 to 2018 and was reappointed to the post earlier in 2024. Her accomplishments included leading a committee to revise the school’s promotion and tenure standards for the first time in 12 years. She also spearheaded an effort to encourage faculty to seek external funding. Over the course of three years, the law school’s grant submissions substantially increased, and the school continues to build on the foundation she laid roughly 10 years ago.
Rodrigues’ many honors include being named a University Professor in 2019 in recognition of her significant impact on UGA. In 2022, the law school’s graduating class chose her for the C. Ronald Ellington Award for Excellence in Teaching, its highest teaching honor. Graduates also selected her to serve as honorary class marshal in 2013, 2022 and 2024. In 2016, she was elected to the American Law Institute, the preeminent learned society in the field.
In addition to her academic work, Rodrigues remains active in the legal profession, serving as an expert in both litigation and transactional matters. She has provided expert testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, and she has presented before the Securities and Exchange Commission three times. She has been quoted in The New York Times, the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, Bloomberg and other media outlets.
Prior to joining UGA, Rodrigues was a corporate associate with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Reston, Va., where she specialized in corporate law and technology transactions. She also served as a judicial law clerk to Judge Thomas L. Ambro of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
“I was fortunate to work closely with Usha Rodrigues during her time as vice provost for academic affairs, and I have seen firsthand her dedication to our students, staff and faculty,” said S. Jack Hu, the university’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “The UGA School of Law is widely recognized for excellence, and I know that Usha will help the school chart a path toward even greater heights in the years to come.”
Rodrigues earned her bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Georgetown University, her master’s degree in comparative literature summa cum laude from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia, where she served as editor-in-chief of the Virginia Law Review and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.