Stetson University College of Law

April 23, 2003:  Gulfport, Fla. - - Gary Vause, dean and vice president of Stetson University College of Law and a renowned legal scholar who has authored numerous books and articles, told a campus-wide gathering today he will retire July 31 because of ill health.

Vause told students, faculty and administrators that he has been diagnosed with cancer, and that his doctors have advised him to step down. Vice Dean Darby Dickerson will serve as interim dean while a nationwide search for a new permanent dean is conducted, according to Stetson President Doug Lee.

"Gary Vause has devoted almost three decades of extraordinary service to Stetson University," President Lee said. "He has tirelessly worked to advance academic excellence, increase diversity and expand a global focus at the College of Law."

Vause joined the law school 28 years ago as assistant dean and was named dean four years ago. He spearheaded Stetson's new Tampa Law Center and Campus, which is currently under construction in downtown Tampa. The campus will house Stetson's part-time program, the Florida Second District Court of Appeal and continuing legal education programs.

"Dean Vause has fulfilled his position with great distinction by enhancing the College of Law's academic program, international programs and partnerships," President Lee said. "He has also done much to enhance Stetson's financial position, its community, government relations and fundraising programs, and by establishing the College of Law's part-time program and its new Law Center and Campus in Tampa, Florida."

Dean Vause also either established or contributed greatly to a number of other Stetson programs, including its Master of Laws (LL.M.) program in International Law and Business; the Center for Excellence in Dispute Resolution; the joint J.D./M.B.A. degree program (in conjunction with Stetson's School of Business Administration); and summer abroad programs in Granada, Spain and Tallinn, Estonia. He also expanded Stetson's curriculum in health and elder law.

Under Dean Vause's leadership, Stetson University College of Law recently earned another first place ranking for its Trial Advocacy Program from U.S. News and World Report. As he has done in the past, Dean Vause credited the Stetson Law community for this prestigious ranking. "Working together, Stetson's strong faculty, outstanding students and supportive alumni have inspired and motivated us to higher levels of academic excellence," he said.

A Tallahassee native and the first member of his family to attend college, Dean Vause earned B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Connecticut, LL.M. and S.J.D. (Doctor of Juridical Science) degrees from the University of Virginia, and a certificate in Mandarin Chinese from Yale University. He served as a Fulbright Distinguished Scholar in China and was elected a member of the American Law Institute. Besides Mandarin, he also speaks Portuguese and Spanish.

Before coming to Stetson, Vause managed his own law firm in Hartford, Conn., specializing in labor and employment law.

ABOUT VICE DEAN DARBY DICKERSON: Darby Dickerson, professor of law and director of legal research and writing, joined the Stetson faculty in August of 1995. She became associate dean in January 2000, received tenure in August 2000 and her full professorship in August 2001. She was promoted to vice dean in August 2002. Dean Dickerson received her B.A. and M.A. from The College of William and Mary, and earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt Law School, where she served as senior managing editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review and as a member of the Moot Court Board.

Before joining Stetson's faculty, she clerked on the United State Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and worked as an associate at Locke Purnell Rain Harrell, a firm in Dallas. In 1995, she was selected as the Outstanding Young Lawyer in Dallas. Dean Dickerson teaches research and writing and federal pretrial practice. She writes in the areas of legal writing, citation, and litigation ethics, and is the author of the ALWD Citation Manual, which has been adopted by professors at more than 100 law schools.

In 1997, Dean Dickerson received Stetson University's Teaching Excellence Award; in 1998 and again in 2000, she received the University's Homer and Dolly Hand Award for Excellence in Faculty Scholarship. In addition to her work at Stetson, she is an officer and director of the Ferguson-White Inn of Court in Tampa, and a director of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Red Cross.

ABOUT STETSON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW: Stetson University College of Law is Florida's first law school. It has educated lawyers for more than 100 years, and offers continuing legal education programs for regional, state, national and international audiences. Stetson University College of Law is again in first place in Trial Advocacy in the 2004 U.S. News & World Report rankings of law schools. For more information, visit our website at http://www.law.stetson.edu.

High resolution images of Dean Vause and Vice Dean Dickerson at http://www.law.stetson.edu/Communications/highresolution.asp

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Stetson University College of Law is Florida's first law school. It has educated lawyers for more than a century, and offers continuing legal education programs for regional, national and international audiences. Stetson is ranked first in Trial Advocacy in the 2004 U.S. News & World Report rankings of law schools, and is the headquarters for the National Conference of Law Reviews.