Susan Hanley Duncan is an American academic administrator and lawyer serving as dean of the

University of Mississippi School of Law The University of Mississippi School of Law, also known as Ole Miss Law, is an ABA-accredited law school located on the campus of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi, United States. Established in 1854, the School of Law offers t ...

since August 2017. She was the interim dean of the

University of Louisville School of Law The University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, commonly referred to as The University of Louisville School of Law or the Brandeis School of Law, is the law school of the University of Louisville. Established in 1846, it is the ol ...

from 2012 to 2017.

Early life and education

Duncan is from

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

. Her father John "Jack" Hanley was an attorney and her mother, Jean Kipp, was a teacher. Duncan graduated from the Sacred Heart Academy in 1984. She graduated

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

from

Miami University Miami University (informally Miami of Ohio or simply Miami) is a public university, public research university in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the second-oldest List of colleges and universities in Ohio, university in Ohi ...

in 1987 with B.A. in speech communication and a minor in political science. She completed her spring 1986 semester in Luxembourg through the Miami University European Center. She earned a J.D. cum laude at the

in 1991.

Career

Duncan worked as an associate from 1991 to 1992 at Boehl Stopher Graves & Deindoerfer in

. From 1994 to 1996, she was an adjunct professor for legal methods at the

Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law is an American Bar Association accredited law school and is the only law school in Memphis, Tennessee. The school has been associated with the University of Memphis since the law school's ...

. She joined Brandeis School of Law in 1997 as an adjunct professor. She was an adjunct professor of legal studies at

Spalding University Spalding University is a private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. History Spalding University traces its origins to "Nazareth Academy", one of the oldest educational institu ...

in 1999. She returned to Brandeis in 1999 as a visiting professor where she was promoted to associate dean of academic affairs and faculty development in 2011 and full professor in 2012. She served as the interim dean from 2012 to 2017. Duncan was one of the top four candidates to become the Brandeis dean but the school eventually selected Colin Crawford. On August 1, 2017, joined the

as its dean, succeeding interim dean Debbie Bell. She is the first female dean to serve in a non interim capacity at the

on August 1, 2017. She became a fellow of the

American Bar Foundation The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is a nonprofit research institute established in 1952 and located in Chicago, United States. The American Bar Foundation is located in the same building as Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in do ...

in 2020. In 2022, served as president of the

Scribes A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as secretarial and ...

legal society.

Personal life

Duncan is married has six daughters and one son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Susan Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Sacred Heart Academy (Louisville) alumni Miami University alumni University of Louisville School of Law alumni University of Louisville faculty University of Mississippi faculty Lawyers from Louisville, Kentucky American women legal scholars American legal scholars Deans of law schools in the United States Women deans (academic) 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American academics Spalding University faculty American women academic administrators