Mark C. Jefferson
- Assistant Dean for Community Engagement and Equity
Mark C. Jefferson serves as the chief diversity officer of the Law School, and is responsible for strengthening and advancing the school’s commitment to being a diverse and equitable institution in which every member — including students, faculty and staff — feels an equal sense of belonging. He leads the school’s Committee on Diversity, Equity and Belonging, and collaborates with the admissions, graduate studies and financial aid offices on student recruitment and success. Jefferson is a resource for faculty and staff to enrich efforts in hiring and retention, the curriculum, classrooms, clinics, experiential courses and programs, among other aims.
Jefferson previously served as assistant dean of community engagement and equity at Harvard Law School. He has also served as assistant director of admissions at the University of Michigan Law School, where he earned his J.D.
Before law school, he also worked as a middle school teacher, serving as the founding dean of students and a language arts teacher at the Seed Public Charter School in Washington and as director of alumni support at St. Ignatius Loyola Academy in Baltimore. He has also served as a chaplain at Boston University’s Marsh Chapel. After a year working for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, he decided to become a lawyer himself.
He was an associate at the law firm Thelen in New York before returning to Michigan to serve in the school’s admissions office.
Education
- J.D.University of Michigan2006
- B.A.Morehouse College1991
Faculty in the News
Naomi R. Cahn, Opinion: What Parents Are Really Getting From the GOP’s ‘Parents’ Rights’ Agenda (CNN)
Douglas Laycock, The Liberal Maverick Fighting Race-Based Affirmative Action (The New York Times)
, Lessons From Turkey-Syria Earthquake & Rebuilding For A Resilient Future (World Architecture)
