Outgoing Dean Johnson Named Permanent Rector and Vice President for Saint Louis University Madrid

William Johnson, J.D., outgoing dean of the Saint Louis University School of Law, has been named rector and vice president of SLU’s Madrid campus, effective Oct. 1.

SLU Provost Michael Lewis, Ph.D., said Johnson possesses a unique set of academic, professional and personal skills that made him the ideal choice for the position.

William Johnson, J.D., outgoing dean of the Saint Louis University School of Law, has been named rector and vice president of SLU’s Madrid campus, effective Oct. 1.

SLU Provost Michael Lewis, Ph.D., said Johnson possesses a unique set of academic, professional and personal skills that made him the ideal choice for the position.

“Bill rightly recognizes the scholarly expertise, teaching excellence, operational prowess, and embodiment of SLU’s institutional Mission among the Madrid campus faculty and staff, and I know he will be a champion for their work and continued growth,” Lewis said.

Prior to becoming dean of the law school, Johnson served for more than four years as the director of the school’s Center for International and Comparative Law. Concurrently, he served as director of the School of Law’s Summer Law Program in Madrid.

“Both responsibilities required significant re-imagining of both academic programming and operations, as well as partnership development with organizations throughout Europe and beyond,” Lewis said. “He has facilitated SLU School of Law faculty members’ visiting appointments at multiple European universities, while also creating an international internship program for SLU students in Spain, around Europe, and throughout Latin America.”

As director of the School of Law’s Summer Law Program in Madrid, Johnson spent four consecutive summers at SLU-Madrid, where he developed strong relationships with faculty and staff. He has continued to visit SLU-Madrid each year as dean.

“As a trusted peer and colleague of our leadership here in Madrid, Dean Johnson has been a consistent, vocal advocate for our community,” Laurie Mazzuca, Ph.D., interim co-director of SLU-Madrid said. “A proponent of the distinct educational and operational contexts in Madrid, he recognizes the critical importance of SLU continuing to enhance coordination between people, programs, and services on both the St. Louis and Madrid campuses.”

A native of Minnesota, Johnson participated in an exchange program when he was young (in what was then West Germany) and then studied abroad as a graduate student in law school (in The Netherlands), which began a lifelong passion for international engagement.

He has held visiting academic appointments at universities in Lithuania, Germany, and France and has been a guest lecturer at a university in Hungary. He is an internationally recognized scholar of international commercial law – particularly contract law.

Johnson served as the dean of the School of Law for more than seven years. Lewis said Johnson’s work as dean set a high standard.

“At a time when internal and external forces all mandated transformational change that, if forced top-down, could have been highly disruptive, Bill led from within, fostering increasingly more meaningful engagement and shared governance throughout his faculty and staff colleagues,” Lewis said. “The result was indeed transformation – for the good, accomplished collaboratively, and in good faith.”

The search committee, led by Anne McCabe, Ph.D. (English), and Marta Moreno, Ph.D. (Mathematics), from the Madrid campus, selected Johnson from a wide pool of candidates.

Johnson will succeed the three Madrid Campus co-directors, Laurie Mazzuca, Ph.D., Francisco “Paco” García-Serrano, Ph.D. and Victoria Villarreal, who, collectively, have served in an interim capacity since May 2023.

About SLU-Madrid

Founded in 1967, SLU's Madrid campus is an innovator in international education and widely recognized for its highly rigorous and transformative American educational programs. As Spain's largest U.S. campus, SLU-Madrid is home to more than 1,200 students from the United States, Spain and more than 65 other countries. In addition to study abroad opportunities, students can earn their entire U.S. degree in Spain, choosing from 20 fully accredited undergraduate majors and two graduate degrees. To learn more, visit slu.edu/madrid.

About Saint Louis University School of Law

Saint Louis University School of Law was founded in 1843 and is the oldest law school west of the Mississippi River. The strength of the faculty, breadth of course offerings and extensive clinical and professional skills experience provide students with a well-rounded legal education. The School of Law’s rich history consists of strong connections to the community and a long tradition of public service. SLU LAW’s location in the heart of downtown St. Louis offers students unparalleled access to leading law firms, courthouses, corporations, government agencies and nonprofit organizations — and a unique opportunity to see the law in action. For more information, visit slu.edu/law.