Dean Jay Conison

Jay Conison has extensive experience in strategy, finance, business development, external affairs, and overall management of law schools. Most recently, he served as Dean of Valparaiso University Law School. Conison’s scholarly and professional work focuses on issues in legal education and the business of law schools. He is currently Reporter for the American Bar Association Task Force on the Future of Legal Education and has recently served as Chair of the Accreditation Committee of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

During his 15-year tenure at Valparaiso University Law School, Conison achieved sustainable diversity among students, staff and faculty; constructed a second law building devoted to clinical and skills education; upgraded the main law building to improve student services and student life; expanded the faculty and increased the national and international impact of faculty work; and created an effective organizational and management structure for the law school that ensured a high level of service to students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

In addition his other work in legal education, Conison regularly chairs or serves on ABA and AALS site inspection teams, and has held leadership positions on other committees and task forces at the national and state level. He writes and blogs on legal education and the business of law schools.

Conison earned his B.A. from Yale College and both his M.A. and J.D. from the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining the Valparaiso University Law School, he was at Oklahoma City University School of Law from 1990-1998, where he held positions of assistant professor, associate professor, professor, associate dean and interim dean. Dean Conison began his law career with Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal in Chicago, IL practicing business litigation with an emphasis on antitrust, franchising, and employee benefits.

• B.A., Yale College
• M.A., University of Minnesota
• J.D., University of Minnesota