Page 44 - 2022 Westchester County Economic Development Guide

One Million Strong Education
Where Theory
Meets Practice
Horace Anderson, the ninth dean of PACE University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law, discusses the school’s leadership position, its unique philosophy, and why Westchester is an ideal backdrop for its work.
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WESTCHESTER COUNTY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GUIDE
Housed on the University’s campus in White Plains, Pace University’s Elisabeth Haub School of Law (Haub Law) offers J.D. and Master of Law degrees in both Environmental and International Law, as well as a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD). The school, housed on the University’s campus in White Plains, opened its doors in 1976 and has more than 8,500 alumni around the world. The school maintains a unique philosophy and approach to legal education that strikes an important balance between practice and theory.
Tell us a little bit about your background.
I was born and raised in New York. My parents immigrated to the United States from Jamaica and settled in Brooklyn. I went to New York City public schools and eventually got bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. I practiced
intellectual property law at White & Case LLP in Manhattan and also worked in management consulting at Monitor Group before getting into law teaching.
What drew you to PACE Law?
I had started to think about teaching as a way to pursue some of my own interests in intellectual property, and as a way to influence what the next generation of lawyers would be like. A law school classmate of mine who was already on the faculty let me know that Pace was looking for entry level faculty, and I jumped at the chance to apply.
Tell us about why PACE Law is a
special place.
What has kept me at Haub Law is that it is really special place. Like Pace University in general, it provides an opportunity for professional education and upward mobility for many people who wouldn’t otherwise easily find such
opportunities. We make lawyers out of first-generation students, immigrant students, and students from a range of underrepresented groups. In many ways, we provide the type of access to education that one would usually associate with a public institution, but we provide it in a smallish, intimate community that feels like a small college. That makes the experience very personal not just for our first-generation students, but for every student.
What benefits does being in Westchester provide?
We get to draw on an amazing applicant pool that comes from and/or wants to settle in a region that has the vibrancy and vitality of New York City with the livability of a more suburban space. We also get to work with a legal and business community that sees us as their local law school, which leads to great opportunities for our students to find internships and
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© Courtesy of Elisabeth Haub School of Law