BYU Law is pleased to announce that Dean Gayla Sorenson (Class of ’85) has been selected as the new Assistant Dean of External Relations, a position focused on strengthening the legal community composed of BYU Law students, alumni, and J. Reuben Clark Law Society (JRCLS) members. Dean Sorenson is most well-known to current students and recent alumni for her role as the Law School's Assistant Dean of Admissions.
“The opportunity to work at BYU Law has been an incredible capstone to a meaningful, fulfilling career,“ Dean Sorenson shared. “As Dean of Admissions, I loved describing the outstanding BYU Law community, including the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, to prospective students. In my new role, I am excited to be more closely engaged with that service-oriented, high-achieving community of alumni and Law Society members."
Dean Sorenson and the Admissions Team have spent the last several years increasing the size and reach of BYU Law's recruiting efforts. While maintaining Law School traditions such as the Women in Law Recruiting Luncheon and Admitted Students' Day, Dean Sorenson has overseen the creation of both a student and an alumni ambassador program that conduct outreach to potential BYU Law students. She and her team have also increased online recruiting efforts and strengthened relationships with other universities and the BYU undergraduate campus as they have sought out potential law students from a diversity of academic and geographic backgrounds.
In reflecting on leaving her position as Dean of Admissions, Sorenson noted, “I will miss the close, daily interaction with prospective students and the Admissions Team. Those relationships significantly enriched my life. However, I am excited to watch our new Dean of Admissions, Stacie Stewart, as she brings her warmth and wealth of experience to the role, and I am confident she will wholeheartedly focus on fulfilling the mission of BYU Law."
For members of the JRCLS and the Alumni Association, Dean Sorenson is known not only from her role as Dean of Admissions but also for her previous volunteer work as the Chair of the JRCLS Finance Committee and as a Senior Fellow for the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at BYU Law. Dean Sorenson has, throughout her legal career, maintained a passion for the Law School and for JRCLS that has been highlighted by her service.
Before returning to BYU Law, Dean Sorenson spent four years with Lewis & Roca in Phoenix and then twenty years with Motorola—first as a litigator, followed by extensive experience as a commercial attorney supporting global transactions, and ending her time there as a Vice President and senior legal advisor. She was the Director of Global Compliance Operations for Biomet, Inc., a global medical device company based in Warsaw, Indiana, at the time that she was selected as the BYU Law Dean of Admissions.
The Alumni Association, JRCLS, and BYU Law community as a whole will all benefit greatly from the experience and passion that Dean Sorenson brings to her new role.