University of New Mexico School of Law Announces Two Women Finalists for Dean

The University of New Mexico School of Law has announced four finalists to become its next dean. The finalists will all come to campus in the first half of March for interviews and public forums. Two of the four candidates are women.

Barbara Bergman is a professor of law and interim dean of the University of New Mexico School of Law. She has served on the faculty at the law school since 1987. From 2008 to her appointment as interim dean in October 2012, she was the associate dean for academic affairs. Early in her career she was a public defender in Washington, D.C. Professor Bergman is a past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Professor Bergman is a graduate of Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, and the Stanford Law School.

Melanie D. Wilson is professor and associate dean for academic affairs at the University of Kansas School of Law. Before beginning her career in the academic world, Professor Wilson was an assistant United States attorney in the Northern District of Georgia and, prior to that, in the Middle District of Georgia.

Professor Wilson is a graduate of the University of Georgia and a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Georgia School of Law, where she served on the Georgia Law Review.