Interested in what former dean and former interim president Don Burnett is up to now? Check out this Daily News article today to find out! A legacy in learning law at UI Former College of Law dean and interim UI president prepares for new position at university By Samantha Malott, Daily News staff writer | Posted 5 hours ago This Idaho native cant seem to escape the world of law and education, not that he seems to want to. Im welcoming the idea to come back and teach again, said Donald Burnett, who served as the University of Idahos interim president from June 2013 to March 2014, and dean of the College of Law for 11 years before that. Burnett will be stepping into a new role at the UI this fall as a professor. Im not slowing down, but Im moving to new areas, he said. Its good to be getting back into the classroom. I like the interaction that comes with the students. Burnett will be teaching two first-year law classes this semester, civil procedure and professional responsibility. With decades of experience in the legal world, he is the perfect candidate to introduce students to it. So far in his life, Burnett has graduated with a bachelors degree in economics from Harvard and served as academic director of the Armys The Judge Advocate Generals School before retiring from the Army as a colonel. He has held various positions such as president of the Idaho State Bar, chair of the Bars professional conduct standards committee, judge for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribal Court and executive director of the Idaho Judicial Council, among numerous other positions. He moved back into the academic world in 1990, accepting a position as dean of the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, which he held for 10 years, while also teaching. In 2002, he moved back to Idaho with his wife Karen to begin his position as the UI College of Law dean. Its all very magnetic -and attracting me to it, he said of working in higher education. While working as a professor, he will also be working closely with the Idaho Law and Justice Learning Center on the Capitol Mall in Boise, that he worked to create during his time as dean. The learning center in Boise will help to administer the Idaho State Law Library, provide courses to second and third year UI law students in Boise and also offer education for judges in the area, he said. He will also be assisting with the undergraduate honors program at the UI and work on a Salon Series of Big Ideas, where he hopes to help distinguished faculty at the university share what they are working on with a broader audience. Burnett plans to possibly start phasing in retirement over the next few years. I would flunk retiring if I tried to do it all at once, he said. He said he feels a sense of debt to the school for the vast opportunities it has provided him and his family. Burnetts parents enrolled at the university during the heart of the Depression, he said. His mother worked for the library making 35 cents an hour, while his dad would go hunting in the local forests to feed his fraternity brothers, he said. Having the opportunity to work in this environment has been a privilege, he said. Finding enough time to fit in all the opportunities the university has offered, he said has been one of his biggest personal challenges. During the small break between positions this summer, he spent eight days with his son, traveling down Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica visiting old hotels, abandoned towns and museums along the way. Now, hes preparing to jump into the new year. They can get a very cost effective education, he said of the UI College of Law program. The 2014 incoming first-year class is estimated to have 118 students, he said, plus an influx of transfers as well. Our employment statistics have been a lot better than the national average, he said of UI College of Law graduates. He said a juris doctor, or JD degree, opens the door to a wide range of jobs. Students need to have a well balanced and well rounded education, he said. There is a lot more to quality than money. Burnett added that more predictable, stable and sufficient funding from the state would make the economics of the university easier to manage for both administration and students. Then we wouldnt need to ask students to bear so much of the burden, he said. Samantha Malott can be reached at (208) 883-4639, or by email to smalott@dnews.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 15:13:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015