For Immediate Release
February 28, 2005 

Contact:
Elissa Free, (202) 662-9500

Wally Mlyniec

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After almost two decades of leading Georgetown Law Center’s renowned legal clinics and public services programs, Associate Dean Wallace J. Mlyniec will step down from his post to return to the faculty, where he will teach in the Juvenile Justice Clinic, work with graduate fellows and write. 

"Wally has been a transforming force,” said Dean T. Alexander Aleinikoff. “He is largely responsible for making Georgetown’s clinics and public service programs among the best in the nation. Colleagues from around the world look to him as a leader in his field. We salute him for his fine work as Associate Dean and look forward to his return to the faculty.”

Under his tenure, Georgetown Law's clinical program, which is the largest in the nation, has consistently received top national rankings and reviews.  Mlyniec, who is also the Lupo Ricci Professor of Clinical Legal Studies, was an early champion of clinical education; he was the first clinician hired by Georgetown and became the first director of its Juvenile Justice Clinic in 1973. Under Mlyniec’s leadership, the number of clinical courses for JD students and fellows increased by six, and enrollment grew from less than 250 to more than 300. He also nearly tripled the size of the permanent clinical faculty, which now stands at 16.

Mlyniec was instrumental in the creation of the Office of Public Interest and Community Service (OPICS), which has helped Georgetown Law establish one of the strongest public service programs in the country. The mission of OPICS is to foster a commitment to public service that students will carry with them throughout their professional lives.

Mlyniec has also greatly strengthened and enhanced public interest law at Georgetown by creating the first endowments and designated gift programs for clinical education, OPICS, and for the Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP). These endowments now total almost $7 million. He is also the author of numerous books and articles concerning criminal law and law relating to children and families.

Mlyniec's groundbreaking work has been recognized with numerous awards and honors including the Stuart Stiller Memorial award, which honors "outstanding lifetime integration of humanity and professional excellence," and the Association of American Law School’s William Pincus award for "outstanding contribution to clinical legal education." He was also chosen as a recipient of a Bicentennial Fellowship from the Swedish government to study its child welfare system.

Perhaps his colleague, Georgetown Law Professor Deborah Epstein, says it best, "the impact of his work is reflected in the countless juveniles who receive the best possible legal representation; the hundreds of students who enroll in a clinic and devote themselves to serving disenfranchised clients and promoting the public good; the numerous graduates who choose a public interest career; and in Georgetown’s national prominence as a leader in clinical education."

In addition to his scholarly and academic achievements, Mlyniec served on the building committees that oversaw the design and construction of the Edward Bennett Williams Library, the Gewirz Student Center residence hall and the east wing of McDonough Hall. He also served as chairman of the Campus Completion Project, which featured the construction of the Eric E. Hotung International Law Building and the Sport and Fitness Center, which opened last fall. He kept the Law Center community informed about the project’s progress through his very popular and erudite Construction Notes, an architectural and historical reverie about Georgetown’s role in the development of Washington’s East End neighborhood.

About Georgetown University Law Center 

Georgetown University Law Center is one of the world's premier law schools. It has the largest full-time faculty in the nation and is pre-eminent in several areas, including constitutional, international, tax and clinical law. Drawing on its Jesuit heritage, it has a strong tradition of public service and is dedicated to the principle that law is but a means, justice is the end. With this principle in mind, the Law Center has built an environment that cultivates an exchange of ideas and the pursuit of academic excellence. It brings together an extraordinarily varied group of teachers, scholars and practitioners, as well as an outstanding student body.