Dean’s Fellows Get a Glimpse into the Career Journey of MSU Law Dean

The second annual Dean’s Fellows program cohort was treated to a special guest. MSU Law Dean Linda Sheryl Greene shared her remarkable career journey that ultimately led her to Dean of the MSU College of Law. An attentive audience of 1Ls heard about the challenges and decisions that motivated Dean Greene to pursue a life of public service focused on “making equal justice under the law a reality in the lives of all.”

Dean Greene attended first through third grade in Louisiana and Virginia segregated schools, later completing her K-12 education in Los Angeles. Her parents—father, a career Navy man who was also an avid reader and a writer, and mother, a Tuskegee grad, always made sure that she had the best opportunities to learn in and outside of the classroom. Her grandfather, a surgeon and pathologist in Louisiana then California, expected his children and grandchildren to aim for excellence. Linda excelled in academics, music, and drama and graduated from high school with citywide and statewide academic honors. She attended California State University where she studied health education and psychology. She was also a top cross country and 800-meter runner, the only female track competitor at the 25,000-person university.

Interested in race and legal policy, she pursued a law career, earning her juris doctorate from Berkeley Law and a certificate in public international law from the Hague Academy of International Law. She began her legal career as a Civil Rights Attorney, was a Deputy City Attorney in Los Angeles, and, later, a Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. Dean Greene taught at universities in the United States, including Harvard and Georgetown, and was twice a tenured professor before joining MSU as Dean and MSU Foundation Professor.

Merging her interests in serving her community and her love of athletics, Dean Greene co-founded the Black Women in Sport Foundation to further the involvement of Black women in every aspect of sports. She was Chair of the Legislation Committee of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) as well as Vice Chair of the USOC Corporate Audit Committee. She was also a member of the University of Wisconsin Athletic Board, overseeing intercollegiate athletics at that university.

Along with her passion for sports, Dean Greene is a great admirer of artists, a collector, and a patron of the arts. She is currently working on a book about the esteemed Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. The book, Toward an Inclusive Constitutional Democracy: The Dissenting Opinions of Thurgood Marshall, highlights the jurisprudential legacy of Thurgood Marshall. Dean Greene’s scholarship and diverse life experiences make her a sought-after speaker.

In introducing Dean Greene, Audra Foster, Director of Pipeline Programming, Outreach and Education, said, “Her leadership of the Michigan State University College of Law has developed two consecutive record-breaking diverse incoming classes, created a pathway to the legal profession through the development and support of a Pipeline Program Department, and included distinct programming like Foundation Week’s Access to Justice Day and the Dean’s Public Interest Fellowships which makes it possible for students, like you, to lower their overall law school debt and follow your public service passion.”