Notable Leaders in Higher Education: Joseph Kearney

Class of 2023

Since he was appointed dean of Marquette University Law School in 2003, Joseph Kearney has focused on what a law school can do to serve its community.

The mission to serve as a center for discourse on matters of law and public policy that impact the community led to the hiring of former news anchor Mike Gousha as a distinguished fellow in 2007 and the launch of his “On the Issues” series of conversations with newsmakers.

In 2012, the Marquette Law Poll released its first survey of voters in Wisconsin.

Recently, Kearney hired Derek Mosley, who had been a judge of the Milwaukee Municipal Court for 20 years, as the director of Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education to carry on the legacy of community-engaged programming.

Outside of Marquette, Kearney works with the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the Wisconsin Board of Bar Examiners, the Bar of the Seventh Circuit and the State Bar of Wisconsin. 

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