2026

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 4, 2026—Michael Kaufman has been reappointed as dean of Santa Clara University School of Law for a second, five-year term that will commence in July 2026. As dean, Kaufman will continue to provide academic, administrative, strategic, and financial leadership for the law school. 

The reappointment of Kaufman is made in recognition of the outstanding contributions he has made to Santa Clara Law, university leadership, and the larger Santa Clara University community over the past four years.

Kaufman joined Santa Clara University in July 2021, following a distinguished career at Loyola University Chicago, including serving as Acting Provost and Chief Academic Officer and dean of the law school. Under his leadership at Santa Clara Law, applications and enrollment have dramatically increased, with stronger academic credentials of the incoming class. Moreover, the law school has become the top-ranked provider of accredited study abroad programs and the number four intellectual property program. The school also developed the Public Interest J.D. and the Flex J.D. programs, bolstering enrollment and raising its national ranking to number 18. 

Kaufman has attracted stellar new faculty scholars and educators to Santa Clara Law and developed a remarkably strong leadership team. He also stewarded the law school’s American Bar Association and Association of American Law Schools reaccreditation process. 

Committed to student outcomes and success, Kaufman worked with his excellent admissions and financial aid team to develop the PLEDGE Scholarship to offset the repeal of the Graduate Plus federal loan program. His efforts have also improved outcomes for graduates, including increasing career opportunities and raising the first-time California bar passage rate to 82%, a remarkable increase of 19% in two years. 

Kaufman also partnered with his fundraising and alumni relations team to secure a pivotal $5 million gift to the Datta Center for High Tech Law, as well as gifts to support student scholarships and faculty development. 

“I am immensely grateful for the joy and privilege of continuing to serve the Santa Clara Law community,” Kaufman remarked. “We have become more than a great law school; we are a transformative learning community built on an ethic of loving kindness. Working together, I know that we can build upon the tremendous success that we have achieved for our extraordinary students and the communities that they are called to serve.”

Kaufman remains an active scholar and teacher. While at Santa Clara Law, he has published multiple law review articles and several new books, all while regularly teaching civil procedure and education law classes. He was twice voted by students as Faculty Member of the Year. 

Kaufman also has become a recognized leader in Jesuit higher education and legal education. Throughout his tenure as dean, he has embedded the Jesuit mission into all aspects of the law school, developing a culture of cura personalis (care for the whole person), loving kindness, respectful discourse, restorative justice, wraparound wellness services, and trauma-informed practices, as well as strengthening community-serving clinical programs, including the new Bates Mediation Clinic. 

About Santa Clara University School of Law

Santa Clara University School of Law is dedicated to educating lawyers who lead with a commitment to excellence, ethics, and social justice. Santa Clara Law offers students an academically rigorous program including certificates in high tech, international, public interest and social justice, privacy, and sports law, as well as numerous graduate and joint degree options. Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Santa Clara Law is nationally distinguished for its faculty engagement, preparation for practice, and top-ranked programs in intellectual property and international law. For more information, see law.scu.edu.

Media Contact

Pamela Nonga Ngue | Santa Clara Law Marketing & Communications | pnongangue@scu.edu | 408-551-1763