Donald J. Dunn

Dean, University of La Verne College of Law

**The University of La Verne will hold a memorial service on March 8, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. at the College of Law to celebrate Dean Dunn's life.**

Dunn's Career in Legal Education

A nationally-recognized law librarian, Dean Dunn began his 38-year career at the University of Texas at Austin’s Tarlton Law Library in 1969. In 1972, he earned his Master’s of Library Science from University of Texas at Austin and became supervising librarian in its Criminal Justice Reference Library.

In the summer of 1973, he joined Western New England College (WNEC) School of Law in Springfield, Mass. as law librarian and assistant professor of law. By 1996, Dunn had been promoted on the faculty three times and was named the law school’s Interim Dean. Two years later, he became dean of WNEC School of Law, making him one of two law librarians in history to also serve as a law school dean. In 2001, Dunn retired as dean and in 2002 became Western New England College School of Law’s Associate Dean for Library and Information Resources while continuing as a professor of law.

While at Western New England College School of Law, Dean Dunn was an active member in the American Bar Association (ABA) and, in 1977, began serving as an ABA site evaluator for law schools seeking national accreditation. Cumulatively, he served on over 40 site evaluation teams, was the chair of five of those teams and was the sole evaluator for three summer abroad programs: Moscow, Beijing and Cape Town, South Africa.

In 2003, Donald Dunn and his wife, Cheryl, moved to Southern California, and Dunn joined the University of La Verne as dean and professor of law at the College of Law. While at ULV, the experienced ABA site evaluator worked with university administrators and the law school’s faculty to guide the California bar-accredited law school through the difficult process of applying for national accreditation. The attempt was successful and on February 13, 2006, the American Bar Association granted ULV College of Law provisional ABA approval, allowing ULV’s graduates to begin receiving all the same rights and privileges as students graduating from fully ABA-approved law schools.

A Nationally-Recognized Law Librarian

In 2006, Dean Donald J. Dunn and co-author Roy Mersky of the University of Texas were honored by the American Association of Law Libraries (AALS) for their Fundamentals of Legal Research, voted one of the most influential texts in legal research over the last 50 years (1957-2006) by the AALS’ Academic Law Librarians Special Interest Section. Published in 2002 by Foundation Press, the 8th edition of Fundamentals of Legal Research contains 821 pages and over 200 illustrations in 24 chapters and eight appendices and is used in both first-year and advanced research courses in law schools and paralegal programs. The text covers almost all aspects of legal research, including court cases, state and federal legislation, administrative law, legal periodicals, international law, federal tax law and electronic research.

A passionate and vocal law librarian, Dean Dunn was a 38-year member of the American Association of Law Libraries and served on over 25 AALS committees and subcommittees contributing to the advancement of law librarianship, legal education and the legal profession. In addition, he was an active member of the Law Libraries Committee of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar from 1988 to 1994 and served as its chair for three of those years.

A prolific writer with more than 60 books, articles, papers and citations to his credit, Dean Dunn was inducted into the University of La Verne’s “ULV Academy” in May 2007, which honors individuals who have demonstrated quality research and a clear commitment to the advancement of the University of La Verne.

Dunn’s work has appeared or been cited in a variety of scholarly and trade publications, including Law Library Journal, Perspectives: Teaching Legal Research and Writing, Western New England Law Review, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Trends in Law Library Management and Technology, the “Yale Biographical Dictionary of American Law,” “Magazines for Libraries” and publications by the American Association of Law Libraries, among others.

For more information about Dean Dunn’s lifetime achievements, visit http://law.ulv.edu/pdf/DonaldDunn-Resume.pdf.

Information regarding memorial services has not yet been determined and will be communicated as it is made available. Donations to the University of La Verne College of Law’s Dean Donald J. Dunn Memorial Scholarship Fund should be sent to the attention of Doug Frost at 320 East D Street, Ontario, CA 91764. Doug Frost may be reached at (909) 460-2024 or dfrost@ulv.edu.