Stanford Professor Chosen to Lead Notre Dame Law School

G. Marcus Cole

A leading scholar of economics, commerce and finance has been chosen as Joseph A. Matson Dean of the Law School at the University of Notre Dame. G. Marcus Cole has taught at Stanford University since 1997, where he held two endowed chairs and served as associate dean for curriculum and academic affairs. He succeeds Neil Jessup Newton, who is stepping down after a decade as dean on July 1. 

Cole currently teaches bankruptcy, finance and banking regulation classes and is also researching how economically disadvantaged people across the world use technology to overcome restrictions from local governments to solve a broad range of issues. 

“Professor Cole is an extraordinary person, teacher, scholar and leader who brings to this role a deep commitment to our Law School’s mission, vision and values,” said Thomas G. Burish, Charles and Jill Fischer Provost at Notre Dame. “Search committee members were uniformly impressed with his reputation for collegiality, as well as his global experience and involvement on issues ranging from social justice and equality to providing educational access for low-income children."

Cole was an associate with the Chicago law firm of Mayer Brown before joining the Stanford Law faculty. He also clerked for Judge Morris Sheppard Arnold in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“To me, law is the noblest profession in the world,” Cole said. “Lawyers save lives, protect rights and grease the wheels of the economy. It has been the great honor of my life to train lawyers, and I am humbled and honored to have the opportunity to help do so at one of the most important law schools in the world."

Cole earned a bachelor’s degree in applied economics from Cornell University and his juris doctorate at Northwestern University.