Pitt Law names inaugural associate dean for Equity and Inclusive Excellence

Tomar Pierson-Brown will become the Pitt School of Law’s inaugural associate dean for Equity and Inclusive Excellence on July 6.

Tomar Pierson-BrownIn this role, Pierson-Brown will set the strategy for the school’s Office of Equity and Inclusive Excellence, working closely with the director and assistant director of the office, along with the Diversity Committee and Pitt Law students.

Pierson-Brown is a clinical assistant professor of law and director of Pitt Law’s Health Law Clinic. Under her leadership, the clinic operates as a medical-legal partnership with UPMC–Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She previously served as a clinical instructor and supervising attorney in the Juvenile and Special Education Law Clinic at the University of the District of Columbia School of Law. Prior to academia, she was an attorney with Children’s Law Center in Washington, D.C., and an Equal Justice Works fellow with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland.

“Professor Pierson-Brown brings extensive experience and understanding of issues of representation identity, and community collaboration to this new role,” said Pitt Law Dean Amy J. Wildermuth. “She will be instrumental in helping us reach our strategic goal of ensuring that Pitt Law is accessible for, and inclusive of, everyone from the full spectrum of race, socioeconomic, ability, and cultural backgrounds.”

Pierson-Brown received a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, and an LLM in clinical legal education and systems change from the University of the District of Columbia School of Law. 

“I am excited to lead Pitt Law’s efforts to promote and maintain an inclusive academic environment,” Pierson-Brown said in a statement. “My goals for this position are to develop a law school culture in which all learners feel that their lived experiences are central to the process of knowledge construction and acquisition, and to promote the incorporation of practices which foster understanding and respect across embodied and ideological difference.”