Campbell Law School dean to step down

The dean who oversaw the move of Campbell University's law school to downtown Raleigh announced today that she will leave her post next summer.

Melissa Essary has been dean of the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law since 2006. In a letter to the university's governing board dated today, Essary said she would be returning to teaching full-time on the law school faculty.

"This is such a special place with a wonderful, supportive community, and I know I will enjoy my new role teaching labor and employment law," Essary wrote. "As I return to the faculty, my husband Larry and I also look forward to enjoying our youngest daughter’s last years of high school. It’s hard to believe she was just beginning the fourth grade the year I became dean."

Essary led the planning that moved the law school from Campbell's main campus in Buies Creek to an office building in downtown Raleigh in the fall of 2009. She came to Campbell from the Baylor University School of Law in Texas, where she served on the faculty for 16 years.

Since she arrived, the Campbell law school's enrollment has grown from 345 to 477.

In her letter, Essary said Campbell Provost Dwaine Greene will convene a search committee to find a successor, who would likely be chosen next spring.