Jake Henry speaks to first-year students during the 2016 orientation program.
After spending the past eight years as LSU Law Director of Admissions, Jake Henry is taking on a new challenge—and filling a new position at the Law Center—as Assistant Dean of Student Affairs.
“My passion for working with students has led me to a career in higher education, and specifically legal education,” says Henry. “As Director of Admissions, I established relationships with students through the recruitment process to encourage them to consider LSU Law and I have worked to provide a supportive environment for our students. As Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, I’m excited to continue to impact students’ experiences throughout their time at the Law Center and into their careers.”
In his new role, Henry will administer the Law Center’s interactions with its students, focusing on the academic, intellectual, psychological and personal aspects of student life at LSU Law. Additionally, he will work closely with all other administrators to ensure that students experience a supportive, inclusive and successful legal education.
“I am excited about this new position and its focus on the student experience at the LSU Law Center,” says LSU Law Dean Tom Galligan. “Jake Henry has been an outstanding Director of Admissions and I have every confidence he will be a wonderful Assistant Dean of Student Affairs as we launch this new era for the LSU Law Center.”
The hiring of Henry for the new Assistant Dean of Student Affairs position comes just months after LSU Law welcomed its first in-house licensed mental health professional, Catherine Seemann. Dean Galligan says the new Assistant Dean of Student Affairs position will further enhance student support, and bring greater synergy to the Office of Admissions and the Office of Career Services—both of which Henry will supervise in his new role.
“It makes us a more attractive law school in terms of recruitment and it’s going to make for a better overall student experience,” Galligan says.
Along with working with the directors of the admissions and career services offices to develop and implement strategies and operational policies, Henry will also coordinate with the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs to investigate, resolve and prosecute student discipline matters.
“I know our team will continue to connect the Law Center with all of the university resources so that our students can most effectively navigate the rigors of their legal education,” Henry says, “and I’m excited to get to work.”
Prior to joining LSU Law in January 2011, Henry was at the University of Florida College of Law, serving as associate director of admissions for about three years, and prior to that as assistant director of admissions for a year.
Henry earned a BS in psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2003 and a JD from Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas, in 2006.
