Published: Aug. 25, 2002

Harold Bruff, dean of the School of Law at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has announced his resignation as dean effective in June 2003.

Bruff, who will stay at CU-Boulder as a law professor, said he wants to spend more time with his family and is "eager to resume the life of teaching and writing that has been my principal career."

Now in his seventh year as dean of CU-Boulder's law school, Bruff announced his resignation to the faculty on Aug. 13.Ìý

"The essential health of our school is good," Bruff said. "I am proud of the high level of achievement of our faculty and students."

Provost Phil DiStefano said, "I was extremely saddened to learn of Hal Bruff's decision to leave the position of dean of the CU law school next year. His outstanding leadership over the past six years has shaped a promising future for the law school."

DiStefano said Bruff "has played a crucial role in the development of a much-needed new law school building that will enrich the learning experience of many new generations of students."

A primary focus of his time as dean has been to guide the school through planning for a new law school building, including raising funds for the proposed $39 million project. Under Bruff's direction, design plans for the building were completed and more than half the money needed for construction was raised.

Construction was originally slated to begin in 2002. However, state funding for the law school building and two other campus buildings is currently on hold due to the state's economic downturn and budget constraints.

Bruff came to CU-Boulder in 1996 from the George Washington University Law School, where he was a professor of law. He was the Donald Rothschild Research Professor of Law at George Washington University from 1992 to 1996, where his research and teaching focused on constitutional and administrative law.

Prior to joining GWU, Bruff was on the law faculty at the University of Texas from 1983 to 1992 and from November 1979 to June 1981, he was senior attorney-adviser for the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice. Bruff served as consultant to the chairman of the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island in 1979 and was on the law faculty at Arizona State University from 1971 to 1979.Ìý