The controversial lawyer led the impeachment trial against former President Clinton and the Whitewater investigation.
By David Wallace/Special to The Malibu Times
Pepperdine University has announced that, following a six-month search, Kenneth W. Starr has been chosen as the next dean of its law school. School President Andrew K. Benton, who made the final selection from six candidates, said his selection of the controversial Starr, formerly the Whitewater independent counsel who received national attention during the Clinton impeachment process, was among the “most important academic appointments” in the history of the university. Starr is currently a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
Starr will assume his post on Aug. 1, exactly 10 years from the month he assumed his Whitewater role. Before then, he reportedly had ties to the Paula Jones sexual harassment case. After Whitewater, Starr was involved with the Linda Tripp revelation of President Clinton’s adulterous relationship with 24-year-old White House intern Monica Lewinsky, which led to the impeachment trial.
This is not the first time Pepperdine has offered Starr a dean’s position. In 1997, when the Whitewater investigation was stalled, Starr accepted a similar offer from Pepperdine, only to stay at his post in Washington. According to Salon.com, “After word leaked he planned to resign from the Whitewater probe effective August 1, 1997, to accept a position as dean of Pepperdine University’s law school, Starr reversed himself in the face of intense criticism. Even defenders questioned his judgment and he admitted his error.”
In his new position, Starr will oversee a fulltime faculty of 35 and an enrollment of approximately 650. He holds a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University, a master’s degree from Brown University and a juris doctorate from Duke University School of Law. Starr has also written numerous law review articles and recently published a book titled “First Among Equals: The Supreme Court in American Life.”
Starr was Solicitor General of the United States from 1989 to 1993. From 1983 to 1989, he was a United States Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was counselor to U.S. Attorney General William French Smith from 1981 to 1983. Early in his career, he clerked for Judge David W. Dyer on the U.S. Court of Appeals and for U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren E. Burger. He has taught as an adjunct professor at New York University Law School, as a distinguished visiting professor at George Mason University Law School and he has lectured at Pepperdine University.
An in-depth profile of Starr is planned for future publication in The Malibu Times.