Evan H. Caminker (born June 26,1961) is a Dean Emeritus of the University of Michigan Law School. [1] [2] As Dean,he succeeded Jeffrey S. Lehman,who resigned to become president of Cornell University. Caminker was appointed Dean just as the United States Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling upholding the constitutionality of the Law School's affirmative action admissions policies,which had been challenged in a lawsuit filed by the Center for Individual Rights.
Caminker earned a B.A. in political economy and environmental studies, summa cum laude ,from the University of California-Los Angeles,and his Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School, [3] where he was a senior editor of the Yale Law Journal . He clerked for Judge William A. Norris of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit,and Justice William Brennan of the United States Supreme Court. [1]
Caminker was announced as Dean of the University of Michigan Law School in January 2003, [4] and served as Dean until 2013. [5] Prior to going to the University of Michigan,Caminker was a faculty member at the UCLA School of Law from 1991 to 1999. [6] [3] He has practiced law with the Center for Law in the Public Interest in Los Angeles,and as a deputy assistant attorney general in the United States Department of Justice. [3] As a scholar,his research is focused on constitutional law and the nature of judicial decision making. [3]