Robel tapped as 15th dean of IU School of Law-Bloomington

Robel has been serving as interim dean, will be the 15th dean of the school which was founded in 1842, and will be the first woman to be named to the post.

She received her undergraduate degree from Auburn University and a doctor of jurisprudence degree from IU Bloomington. Before coming back to her alma mater in 1985 as a faculty member, she served as a law clerk for the Hon. Jesse Eschbach of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She was an associate dean from 1983-85, and is currently the Val Nolan Professor of law.

Robel’s research has focused on judicial federalism and the role of federal courts in supervision of state judicial administration. She has served as a visiting faculty member at France’s Universite Panthenon-Assas (Paris II) and co-authored, with Elisabeth Zoller, Les Etats des Noirs: Federalisme et question raciale aux Etats-unis, which was published by the Presses Universitaires de France in 2000. She regularly teaches courses in civil procedure, federal jurisdiction and constitutional law.

Robel has been active in developing programs for students outside the traditional classroom setting, such as the Protective Order Project and the Appellate Colloquium. Because of her contributions, she has received the Law School’s Gavel Award, the Wallace Teaching Award, the Leonard D. Fromm Public Service Award, the Indiana Bar Foundation’s Pro Bono Publico Award, and the Indiana State Bar Women and the Law Recognition Award.