Professor Peter Byrne Appointed Associate Dean for the J.D. Program

December 5, 2012 —

Professor Peter Byrne

Georgetown University Law Center Dean William M. Treanor has appointed Professor J. Peter Byrne as associate dean for the J.D. program, effective spring semester 2013. Byrne succeeds Professor Julie O’Sullivan, who will return to the faculty.

“I am very pleased that Peter will return to this important role, and I look forward to working with him in his new capacity,” said Treanor. “Peter is an extraordinary scholar and teacher. The students in the J.D. program will benefit tremendously from his commitment to fostering their intellectual and personal development.” 

“I also offer my deepest gratitude to Julie O’Sullivan for her dedication to our students and outstanding collaboration with her faculty colleagues. Likewise, she has been an invaluable resource to our staff, who selected her as ‘Faculty Member of the Year’ last spring,” Treanor added. 

As associate dean for the J.D. program, Byrne will be responsible for matters involving curriculum, faculty, academic policy, student academic counseling, registration and scheduling. 

Byrne, who joined the Law Center faculty in 1985, is the faculty director of the Georgetown Environmental Law and Policy Program and the Georgetown Climate Center. He teaches and writes in the areas of property, land use, historic preservation, natural resources and higher education law. He also serves as the District of Columbia Mayor’s Agent for Historic Preservation. He previously was associate dean of the J.D. program from 1997 to 2000.

Byrne received a B.A. from Northwestern University and an M.A. and J.D. from the University of Virginia. After graduating from law school, he served as a law clerk to Judge Frank Coffin of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell. He then worked as an associate at Covington & Burling.