Clinical expert Paul Chill has been named associate dean for academic affairs at the UConn School of Law. His two-year tenure will begin on July 1, 2021.

“Dean Chill is an excellent teacher and advocate and an outstanding institutional service member,” Dean Eboni S. Nelson said, announcing the appointment. “I look forward to working with him in his new role as we continue to build upon the law school’s great legacy of academic excellence.”

Chill, who graduated from UConn Law with honors in 1985, became the school’s first associate dean for experiential education in 2013. In that role he has supervised operation of the law school’s clinics, externship programs and practical skills training. He previously held the role of associate dean for academic affairs from 2004 to 2008.

Chill will take over as academic dean from Darcy Kirk, who has held the role since 2013. Kirk will remain on the faculty and continue to teach in the areas of advanced research and education law.

“I am thrilled that Paul Chill will be my successor,” Kirk said. “We have worked closely together for many years so I know how terrific he will be in the role.”

While serving as associate dean for experiential education, Chill continued to teach Legal Profession and to directly manage the UConn Law Mediation Clinic.

His published writing includes a treatise on Connecticut child protection law that has been cited by the Connecticut Supreme Court; a widely cited journal article on emergency removal of children; and a mock trial published by the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.

“I am honored to have been asked to serve again as academic dean,” Chill said. “Obviously much has changed at the law school, and in the world, not least of it in the last year and a half. I am looking forward to collaborating with faculty, staff and students to confront the various challenges and seize the many opportunities that lie ahead.”

Before attending UConn School of Law, Chill graduated with honors from Wesleyan University,