FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Robert B. Moberly, dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law since 1999, has announced his resignation as dean, effective Jan. 6, 2003. He will return to full-time teaching and research as professor of law in the same school.

"Bob Moberly has done superb work in moving the School of Law forward in accordance with our overarching vision for the University of Arkansas as a nationally competitive, student-centered research university," Chancellor John A. White said. "I am deeply grateful for the strong leadership he has exercised, but understand his desire to return to teaching full time. He is a world-class scholar, and his pursuit of his original interests will only strengthen the University's academic reputation."

"Bob Moberly has done exceptional work in moving the School of Law forward and we will miss his leadership," said Bob Smith, UA provost and the chief academic officer to whom deans report. "During Dean Moberly's tenure, the School of Law has made significant strides in private gift support and the pass rate of our law students on the Arkansas bar exam. There has also been a strengthening of international programs and alumni relations during the past three and one-half years. In addition, Dean Moberly has laid the foundation for a major physical expansion of the law school building.

"Even though Bob Moberly is stepping down as dean, the University and our law students will continue to benefit from his vision, energy, and legal acumen as a professor of law, " Smith said.

Under Moberly's leadership, the School of Law:

--raised nearly $9.8 million in private gift support (excluding pledges) in three years. In terms of gifts and pledges made to the University's Campaign for the Twenty-First Century, the law school raised more than $15.4 million or 85 percent of its $18 million goal. Early in Moberly's tenure, the law school surpassed its original Campaign goal of $5 million and later surpassed a newer goal of $14 million, subsequently reset at $18 million.

--applications to the School of Law increased by 46 percent this past year, well ahead of the national average of 18 percent.

--reversed the downward trend in the pass rate on the bar exam. The pass rate increased from 57.1 percent in 2000 to 85.1 percent in 2001.

--initiated efforts to expand the law school building (Waterman Hall). The UA Board of Trustees approved a plan for a $9.7 million project to convert the present two-story building to a three-story building with a new courtroom and law library. School of Law officials currently are raising private funds for this project.

--strengthened international programs with two summer abroad programs, new hires and library enhancements

--established a Law Alumni Society.

Commenting on his decision, Moberly said, "It has been a privilege to serve as Dean at the University of Arkansas School of Law, and I look forward to returning full-time to teaching and scholarship."

In July 1999, Moberly became the UA's ninth law dean since the founding of the School of Law in 1924. He came from the University of Florida College of Law (UFCL), where he had served on faculty since 1977. He also served as director of UFCL's Institute for Dispute Resolution and was principal investigator for a $221,000 grant to conduct a mediation service for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Prior to his tenure at Florida, Moberly was a faculty member of the University of Tennessee College of Law from 1973 to 1977. He also worked as a private sector attorney and for the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission.

He received his law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1966 and his B.S. in economics from the University of Wisconsin in 1963.