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<p>Dean Rod Smolla officially takes the helm of Delaware Law School today.</p>
<p>He has previously served as dean of University of Richmond School of Law and Washington and Lee University School of Law, and as president of Furman University in Greenville, S.C. A native of the Chicago area, Smolla graduated first in his class from Duke University School of Law and earned his undergraduate degree from Yale University.</p>
<p>He has authored and edited many books for general audiences, legal treatises, law school casebooks, law review articles, and pieces for newspapers and magazines. An active litigator, Smolla has presented oral arguments in state and federal courts throughout the nation, including the U.S. Supreme Court. He will teach Constitutional Law II on Tuesday afternoons at Delaware Law this fall.</p>
<p>We sent him a few get-to-know-you questions before he arrived, and here&rsquo;s what he had to say.</p>
<p><em>What was your favorite class in law school?</em> <strong>Constitutional Law.</strong></p>
<p><em>Do you have a favorite television show?</em><strong>&gt;Homeland and Saturday Night Live.</strong></p>
<p><em>Where do you like to vacation?</em> <strong>The Rockies to ski and the beach during summer.</strong></p>
<p><em>Do you have a favorite app?</em> <strong>Chicago Bears, Chicago Bulls, Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago White Sox. (Do you see a theme?)</strong></p>
<p><em>Tell us about your favorite legal movie.</em> <strong>There are three I especially love: To Kill a Mockingbird, Anatomy of a Murder, and Inherit the Wind. On one level I am just a sucker for brilliant acting--the brilliant performances of Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart, and Spencer Tracy. Each of the movies also explores, in subtle and realistic ways, the meaning of being a lawyer. All three of the central lawyers in these movies are loyal to their clients and give it their all to win. Yet they all still have a deeper moral compass, an integrity as human beings, that I find attractive. In all three movies the legal system is portrayed with all its warts and foibles, but there is still dignity and majesty. Every time I see the scene in which the gallery stands for Atticus Finch as he leaves the courtroom, tears come to my eyes.</strong></p>
<p><em>What was your biggest regret during law school?</em> <strong>I was too shy to seek out and meet my professors outside of class. I later grew out of that, but it was a missed opportunity then. Professors in those days were more aloof and scary, I think. I'm glad that has changed.</strong></p>
<p><em>What does success look like?</em> <strong>At first I felt somewhat paralyzed in my inability to think of an answer to this question. Then I realized I don't have an answer, because I really have not assessed my life in terms of "success." It's just too big and amorphous an abstraction. I've never been at a stage where I said, "I am a success." Nor a stage where I said "I am a failure." Life is not like that, on a personal or professional level. We have triumphs and defeats, times when we laugh and times when we cry. It's always a work in progress. If you ask me a different question, "What matters?" then I do have an answer. That is much easier. The love of my family matters. Practicing my profession as an educator and lawyer, with joy and honor and passion and exuberance matters. Serving others and causes larger than myself matters. Maybe that's the best answer: don't be concerned with success; be concerned with what matters.</strong></p>
<p>Welcome, Dean Smolla.</p>