Michael T. Colatrella Jr., professor of law and the inaugural Tracy A. Eglet Chair in Alternative Dispute Resolution at University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law will be the new dean of the law school, officials announced today.

Colatrella joined McGeorge in 2009 as an assistant professor of law and was named associate dean for academic affairs in 2015, serving in the role for four years. In 2019 he was appointed interim dean, shepherding the law school through the first months of the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic.

He is an expert in alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, negotiation and conflict management. An interdisciplinary text he co-authored, “Mediation—Skills & Techniques,” is widely used in law schools, graduate schools and schools of diplomacy.

“Michael has an incredible depth of legal expertise, and we are thrilled he will be leading our faculty and students,” said Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “He has a bold vision for the law school, a passion for connecting University of the Pacific’s three campuses and the deep respect of McGeorge faculty.”

Colatrella also is a noted scholar and speaker on legal education and learning. He is co-director of the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning, a national organization focused on effective teaching and learning in law schools. He is editor-in-chief of the institute’s “Journal of Law Teaching and Learning,” which publishes articles on legal pedagogy.

At McGeorge, he co-developed an innovative, required first-year course "The Legal Profession," and is a nationally sought-after contributor on legal education reform issues.

He will become dean July 1, succeeding Michael Hunter Schwartz, who took McGeorge to new heights during his eight years as dean. Dean Schwartz will return to the faculty to continue his love of teaching and provide advice and support to the new dean. A celebration of Dean Schwartz will be held April 16 on the Sacramento Campus.

“Michael Colatrella is a student-first leader and a tireless advocate for the future of legal education and the legal profession,” said Pacific President Christopher Callahan. “He is the ideal person to build on the extraordinary successes of Dean Schwartz over nearly a decade.”

Colatrella is laser-focused on student success in concert with the vision set by President Callahan of becoming the best student-centric, comprehensive university in the country by enhancing support for the bar exam to better position students for success after they graduate.

As a first-generation college student, Colatrella also is deeply committed to supporting the large population of first-generation students at McGeorge through the unique challenges they may face.

“I’m honored to join the leadership team at University of the Pacific and build on the wonderful work done by our current Dean Michael Hunter Schwartz,” Colatrella said. “I’m excited at the opportunity of working with the law school’s talented faculty, students and staff and leading McGeorge into the next 100 years of student-centered legal education. McGeorge is an exceptional school, and I want to make sure the rest of the world knows what a wonderful institution it is.”

McGeorge School of Law opened 100 years ago, ideally located in California’s capital city of Sacramento. Its moot court program was ranked No. 9 in the nation for the 2023-24 academic year. Graduates earned the highest bar pass rate in California among ABA-accredited law schools on the Feb. 2024 bar exam.

Before joining McGeorge, Colatrella served as director of Southern Methodist University’s Center for Dispute Resolution & Conflict Management in Texas. He also served as a full-time lecturer from 2000-05 at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law where he taught legal research, writing and advocacy and alternative dispute resolution.

Colatrella also spent time as a litigator in New Jersey at Reed Smith Shaw & McClay, named a Top 100 law firm by The American Lawyer, and has experience working for trial and appellate courts.

He is a court-approved mediator in California, Texas, New Jersey and Kansas and has mediated disputes involving employment contracts, commercial contracts, consumer fraud suits, personal injury and commercial and residential leases.

“I am thrilled that Michael Colatrella will be the next dean of McGeorge,” said current Dean Michael Hunter Schwartz. “He has extraordinary passion for his students, for legal education and for his faculty colleagues. His vision for McGeorge promises to set the school up for a bright future.” 

Colatrella is the newest member of Pacific’s leadership team assembled by Callahan since he started as president more than four years ago after 15 years as dean and vice provost at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Last year, Lewis R. Gale was promoted to dean of the Eberhardt School of Business and Niraj Chaudhary was promoted to dean of Pacific Global and dean of Libraries and Learning Center. Sallie Poggi, the No. 2 communications executive at the University of California, Davis, joined Pacific as chief communications officer.

Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert, a top academic leader at Scripps College and biology professor at Scripps, Claremont McKenna College and Pitzer College, joined Pacific in 2023 as provost and executive vice president. Lee Skinner, dean of Newcomb-Tulane College at Tulane University and former associate dean at Claremont McKenna, was appointed dean of the College of the Pacific, the university’s liberal arts and sciences school. Adam Tschuor, the No. 2 athletics executive at University of Dayton, started as Pacific’s new athletic director. Berit P. Gundersen ’84 was named dean of the Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy. Lauren Schoenthaler, senior university counsel at Stanford University, was appointed Pacific’s chief general counsel. Ashley Williams was promoted to director of presidential strategic initiatives and Rob Henderson was named chief technology officer.

In 2022, James Walsh, the No. 2 financial executive at Tufts University, joined Pacific as chief financial officer.

UCLA Dean for Students Maria Q. Blandizzi was named vice president for student life in 2021 while Liz Orwin, head of engineering at Harvey Mudd College, was appointed dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science and Mary Lomax-Ghirarduzzi ’89, vice provost for diversity at the University of San Francisco, was named Pacific’s inaugural vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion.

Earlier, Scott Biedermann ’05, ’20, was promoted to vice president for development and alumni relations. Christopher Ferguson, an enrollment strategist from Occidental College, was the first of the president’s leadership hires when he was named Pacific’s vice president for enrollment strategy.

Pacific is California’s first and oldest university, founded in 1851. The Northern California university, with more than 6,700 students across campuses in Stockton, Sacramento and San Francisco, is ranked in the Top 100 of U.S. colleges and universities by The Wall Street Journal.

Alumni are ranked in the Top 2% of career earnings. Pacific also is one of the nation’s few private universities that is designated by the U.S. Department of Education as both a Hispanic-Serving Institution and Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution.