A former GW Law Dean is headed back to Washington, D.C. In May, the Phi Beta Kappa Society announced that former Frederick M. Lawrence will serve as its 10th Secretary and Chief Executive Officer. As head of the prestigious academic honor society, Mr. Lawrence will advocate for the value of an arts and sciences education and participate in national conversations about its future.
"I am deeply honored by the opportunity to serve as Secretary," he said in a statement after his appointment. "Phi Beta Kappa not only recognizes intellectual rigor and academic excellence, it also advocates for and embodies the values of the liberal arts and sciences and its core tenets of free expression and academic freedom."
Mr. Lawrence was GW Law's Dean from 2005-2010. Over those five, years he raised the national and international stature of the law school by founding the India Project, establishing exchange programs in Italy and the Netherlands, launching LLM programs in national security and U.S. foreign relations law and business and finance law, establishing several new endowed professorships, and expanding financial aid.
After leaving the law school, he went to serve as President of Brandeis University. In his academic career, he has written extensively, lectured internationally and testified before Congress on bias crimes and freedom of expression. He is the author of Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes Under American Law, published by Harvard University Press.