Dear Students and Colleagues,

Following a national search, we are delighted to share that Lonnie T. Brown, Jr. has been named the Kean Family Dean of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law. Lonnie will begin in this role on August 1.

Lonnie currently serves as dean at the Winston College of Law at the University of Tennessee, where he is also the Elvin E. Overton Distinguished Professor of Law and Haslam Family Professor. Out of a highly competitive field, Lonnie’s track record of both leadership and scholarship stood out, and we are eager to see him build upon Beasley’s historic legacy of excellence and the school’s commitment to access, teaching, learning, scholarship and service.

At the Winston College of Law, Lonnie helped enhance the school in several key areas, including academics, research and fundraising. Under his watch, the college enrolled its highest credentialed entering classes in its history every year since 2022. He played an instrumental role in the establishment of the Appalachian Justice Research Center, a cross-college initiative that unites scholars and students from diverse disciplines to tackle complex justice-related challenges in Appalachian and Mountain South communities through community-engaged research and learning. Lonnie also played a lead role in securing a $32.5 million naming gift for the school in 2025.

His appointment comes at a time when Beasley and Temple have significant momentum. The Law School just recently rose to No. 49 in the 2026 US News & World Report’s Best Law School rankings. We are eager to work alongside Lonnie as we continue to implement our strategic plan, Forward with Purpose.

To learn more about Lonnie and his experience as both a leader and legal scholar, visit this Temple Now piece.

We are grateful to the search advisory committee and its chair, Dean Chip Hunter of the Fox School of Business, for their tireless work in helping to bring us to this important appointment. We also want to thank Kristen Murray for her outstanding service as interim dean for the past year while she continued to serve as Beasley’s associate dean for academic affairs.

Sincerely,

John Fry
President

David Boardman
Interim Provost