Jacob Rooksby (left) and Martha Jordan (right) took up the roles of associate deans of administration and academic affairs, respectively, earlier in September.
Brandon Addeo | News Editor
As former law dean Ken Gormley prepares for his upcoming inauguration as Duquesne’s next president, open positions in the law school have been filled in his wake.
Earlier this month, Interim Law School Dean Maureen Lally-Green appointed Martha Jordan associate dean of academic affairs and Jacob Rooksby as associate dean of administration. The pair join the law school’s administrative staff consisting of two other associate deans and two assistant deans.
Lally-Green praised her newly-promoted colleagues.
“It is a great privilege for our law school community, and certainly for me, to work daily with these two splendid leaders,” Lally-Green said in a statement. “Both bring great wisdom to all they do. We are all blessed to have their talent and their dedication serving our students.”
In his new role, Rooksby said he will advise the dean on administrative matters outside of the classroom in the law school, including scheduling guest speakers, managing alumni relations and recruiting new students.
Rooksby said he is “excited” to begin his new job.
“It’s a great chance to work with our new interim dean … for whom I have a lot of respect and admiration,” he said.
Jordan said it was an “honor” to be promoted to her new role.
“I hope I’ll be able to help the [law] school move forward,” she said.
As associate dean of academic affairs, Jordan will be in charge of overseeing the curriculum of classes in the law school and acting as a liaison between the law school and its faculty and students on academic matters.
“It’s a lot of troubleshooting,” she said.
Jordan has taught as an associate professor in the law school for nearly 25 years, offering courses in taxation, estate planning and property law. Rooksby, an assistant professor since 2012, teaches classes in civil law and intellectual property law.
Rooksby said his new position will keep him busy.
“[There are] definitely fewer hours in the day,” he said. “But the good news is I still get to teach.”
Jordan expects the job to be more challenging than teaching since it is more unpredictable.
“[In] this job, you can’t always control when problems arise or when emergencies arise,” she said.
Jordan said she plans on making academic policy in the law school more “transparent.”
“I think the biggest change I’d like is [for our policies] to be as transparent and fair and equitable as possible,” she said.
Jordan added that her background in business law will help her as associate dean.
“I’ve advised businesses on how to operate … so I bring those administrative skills to this job,” she said.
Jordan added that her nearly 25 years at Duquesne have helped given her a better “understanding” of how the law school operates.
Rooksby also said his experience in the law school will help him in the new job.
Outside Duquesne, he works as an intellectual property attorney at Cohen & Grigsby P.C, a law firm based out of Pittsburgh and Naples, Florida. Rooksby is also the president of the Pittsburgh Intellectual Property Law Association.
Jordan previously chaired the law school’s Faculty Recruitment Committee. She is also a member of the board of trustees for Preservation Pennsylvania, an advocacy group dedicated to preserving historic buildings in the state.
