FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Stacy Leeds, dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law, has been appointed to a two-year term on the Law School Admissions Council board of trustees.

Known as LSAC in the legal community, the council is a nonprofit corporation that provides products and services to aid the admission process for law schools and applicants worldwide. The council is primarily known for administering the Law School Applications Test, commonly called the LSAT, designed to provide a standard measure of acquired reading, writing and verbal reasoning skills, which are considered essential for success in law school.

"LSAC plays an integral role in the path and shape of law schools, not only in the U.S., but throughout the world, through its mission of service to students and schools," Leeds said. "I look forward to supporting this purpose and to representing the University of Arkansas and the School of Law as part of its board of trustees."

In addition to the approximately 100,000 tests administered annually at hundreds of testing centers around the world, the council also processes academic credentials for an average of 60,000 law school applicants annually, funds diversity programs, publishes research, provides essential software and information for admission offices and applicants, conducts educational conferences for law school professionals and prelaw advisors and provides many related services. Currently, 222 law schools in the United States, Canada and Australia are members of the council and benefit from its services.

Leeds has served as dean and professor of law at the University of Arkansas School of Law since 2011. She came to Arkansas from the University of Kansas where she served as interim associate dean, professor of law and director of the Tribal Law and Government Center.

Among her many honors, Leeds is a 2013 recipient of the American Bar Association's Spirit of Excellence Award, an elected member of the American Law Institute, and a former Alphonse Fletcher, Sr. Fellow with a 2008-2009 affiliation to the W.E.B. DuBois Institute at Harvard University.

This appointment adds to strong record of public service. Leeds is currently a member of the board of directors for Arvest Bank in Fayetteville and the American Indian Graduate Center, Inc. Previous appointments include membership on boards for corporations and academic institutions, serving as a member and officer on national commissions and one term as a justice on the Cherokee Nation Supreme Court. 

She received a Master of Laws from the University of Wisconsin, Juris Doctor from the University of Tulsa, Master of Business Administration from the University of Tennessee and Bachelor of Arts from Washington University in St. Louis. Leeds, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, is the only American Indian woman to have served as a law school dean in the United States.

Leeds’ appointment to the 14-member board will run from June 2017-June 2019. She will take office at the council’s annual meeting to be held May 31-June 3 in Palm Desert, California.

Her involvement continues a tradition of University of Arkansas School of Law’s connection with the Law School Admissions Council. Cynthia Nance, dean emeritus and the Nathan G. Gordon Professor of Law, was a board of trustees member from 2005-08 and 2011-15 and secretary from 2013-15, and council generously funded the law school’s pre-law summer pipeline program from 2012-16.