Cleveland State College of Law Dean Lee Fisher named next Baldwin Wallace president – The Cauldron
The current dean of the Cleveland State University College of Law (CSU|LAW), Lee Fisher, has been appointed the next president of Baldwin Wallace University, announced to the campus community via email on Monday, Feb. 10. He will officially begin his new role on July 1.
Since joining CSU Law as interim dean in 2016 and later as dean in 2017, Fisher launched four new legal clinics: the Terry Gilbert Wrongful Conviction Clinic; the Pre-Trial Justice Clinic; the Pardon, Clemency, and Re-entry Clinic; and the David Braff Animal Law Clinic/Center.
Under his leadership, enrollment at CSU|LAW increased by 96 percent from 2016 after a period of record low enrollment, helping the school recover from a serious budget deficit.
“While we are saddened to say goodbye to an exceptional colleague, leader and educator, we are very pleased for him, the Baldwin Wallace community and Northeast Ohio,” wrote President Laura Bloomberg, Ph.D., and Provost Nigamanth Sridhar, Ph.D. in the email.
Fisher’s move to Baldwin Wallace comes at a similar time of financial issues, with the Berea university undergoing a $7 million budget deficit. He plans to establish a team dedicated to restructuring the university’s financial management.
Before his tenure at CSU|LAW, he served as Ohio attorney general from 1991 to 1995 and Ohio lieutenant governor from 2007 to 2011. He also led the Ohio Department of Development and the Ohio Third Frontier Commission.
He and his wife, Peggy Fisher, received the Cleveland Bar Association Foundation’s Richard W. Pogue Award for Excellence in Community and Engagement in 2021. He has worked with numerous nonprofits, leading the Centers for Families and Children.
He was also inducted into the Cleveland Magazine Business Hall of Fame in 2022 for his impact on Ohio’s economic development.
“Being dean of Cleveland State’s law school has been the honor of a lifetime, but now I have another new chapter and another honor of a lifetime,” said Fisher after the news of his new appointment was announced. “That is to be president of a wonderful college that turned into a university, that has turned into a place where actually you change lives for the better for the long term.”
Provost Sridhar will share the University’s plan to replace the vacant deanship in the coming weeks.