A profile of UBC’s new Dean of Law

by Christine Mingie

Professor Mary Anne Bobinski has been appointed Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of British Columbia effective July 1, 2003, following a year-long international recruitment process.

“The Faculty of Law at UBC managed to get exactly what it needs in Mary Anne Bobinski – an energetic and gifted teacher, scholar and leader who has the ability to bring all the individual talents at UBC into a cohesive whole,” says third-year law student David Miles, former President of the Law Student’s Association who sat on the Dean Selection Committee at UBC.

“Mary Anne stood out as the type of leader that the Faculty of Law at UBC needs to make it the foremost legal education institution in Canada, and in the world,” says Mr. Miles.

Professor Bobinski is currently Director of the University of Houston’s Health Law & Policy Institute, recently named the number one health law program in the U.S. by US News & World Report. The Health Law & Policy Institute was founded in 1978 to advance research in the merging areas of law, public policy and medicine. Professor Bobinski is also the John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Law at the University of Houston. The Moores Professorship honours tenured professors who have made outstanding contributions in teaching, research and service, and who are scholars of national or international distinction.

“Professor Bobinski brings a strong commitment to excellence in research, teaching and academic leadership, says UBC VP of Academic Barry McBride. “This, combined with her excellent administrative skills and impressive scholarly record, makes her an ideal fit for the position of Dean of Law. I am confident she will work with faculty members individually and collectively to cultivate and enhance scholarship and teaching. She will bring about change in a manner that inspires collegiality and harmony with staff and students in a way that commands respect, and with the legal community to bring resources and prestige to the Faculty.”

Professor Bobinski received her B.A. and J.D. degrees, both summa cum laude, from the State University of New York at Buffalo. After a judicial clerkship with Mr. Justice Max Rosenn of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Professor Bobinski obtained an LL.M from Harvard University. She has been teaching at the University of Houston Law Center since 1989, and in 1998, she was appointed Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.

Articles written about Professor Bobinski during her tenure at the University of Houston refer to the “respect and reverence” she has earned from colleagues at the Law Center, and former students remember her classes as “an enriching part of their law school careers.”

She has co-authored five law books on health care law and ethics, HIV law and policy, and medical ethics. She is widely published in academic journals and is a frequent public speaker on health care issues ranging from medical malpractice, e-health and health care finance.

She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Association of American Law Schools, and a board member of the Montrose Clinic in Houston.

Professor Bobinski was awarded Houston’s prestigious Ethel M. Baker Service Award for Outstanding Community Service in addition to several other awards including a Students’ Advocates Award in 1998 and 1999, the Texas Human Rights Foundation Award for Meritorious Service in 1995, and the Bar Association President’s Award for Human Rights.

Professor Bobinski succeeds Joost Blom, QC as Dean of the Faculty of Law.

Christine Mingie is an articled student at Lang Michener and a member of the BarTalk Editorial Board.

This article was published in the June 2003 issue of BarTalk. © 2003 The Canadian Bar Association. All rights reserved.