Colleagues reflect on Morris Ratner's legacy as UC Law SF provost & academic dean from 2017 to 2026

Colleagues share reflections about Morris Ratner’s tenure as provost & academic dean of UC Law San Francisco as he approaches the end of his nearly 10-year tenure on Dec. 31, 2026.

 

David Faigman, Chancellor & Dean, William B. Lockhart Professor of Law and the John F. Digardi Distinguished Professor of Law

“Provost & Academic Dean Morris Ratner has been instrumental in transforming UC Law San Francisco. By force of personality and intellectual brilliance, he and his extraordinary team of professionals have brought our academic program to new levels of excellence. Our success throughout the curriculum, from the day-to-day classroom experience of our students to our graduates’ success on the bar exam and in employment, is attributable to Morris’ extraordinary artistry as an administrator. I have been exceedingly fortunate to work with Morris these last ten years and am forever grateful to have him as a colleague and friend.”

 

Shauna Marshall, The Honorable Raymond L. Sullivan Professor of Law and Founding Co-Director of the Center on Racial and Economic Justice

“I had the pleasure of working closely with Morris Ratner in various capacities. From time to time, he sought my opinion on administrative matters. I was always impressed by his absolute commitment to doing the best for the school. He consistently displayed integrity and thoughtfulness when making tough decisions.

From the moment Alina Ball and I created the Center for Racial and Economic Justice (CREJ) Morris has been its champion. That supportive relationship has continued under Thalia González’s leadership allowing CREJ to produce scholarship, put on conferences, bring in distinguished visitors and developing the next generation of racial and economic justice scholars.

Morris will be greatly missed.  Thank you Morris for a job superbly done!”

 

David Seward, Chief Financial Officer

“Morris Ratner, in his capacity as provost and academic dean was primarily responsible for effectuating the changes that reversed the college’s downward slide in the bar passage rates. In doing this he brought the faculty together in shared purpose for the school’s betterment. This happened due to Morris’ keen intellect drawing on statistical analysis using fact-based approaches and drawing on the respect and high esteem that he enjoyed from across the institution.

Morris works really, really hard all of the time. He is literally at the ready seven days a week, not necessarily a good thing, but a quality I respect.

One could not hope for a better colleague. Morris Ratner is a gentleman in the classic sense of the word and very dear to me, a person of intellect and integrity, the absence of ego, at least any visible ego, enhanced his effectiveness as a leader and manager. Morris performed the most difficult job at UC Law SF with grace and civility. His contribution to the college’s institutional excellence will be long remembered.”

 

Jennifer Freeland ’14, Associate Dean for Teaching

“Morris Ratner is an extraordinary leader and mentor. One of his most significant contributions to the law school has been the breadth and depth of his service. He has taken on an astonishing range of issues while still understanding each one with remarkable nuance and care. He has also done so while successfully navigating several difficult and consequential developments, including COVID-19, changes to the bar examination, generative AI, and more.

What I think can go underappreciated is Morris’s incredible ability to make people feel heard and valued, even when he may not agree with them or when navigating difficult institutional dynamics. He brings a rare combination of intellectual rigor, political deftness, humility, and humanity to the role. His ability to validate, value, and thoughtfully navigate the perspectives of students, staff, faculty, alumni, and other stakeholders has made him deeply effective as Provost and Academic Dean.

I have benefited from Morris’s sage mentorship, leadership, and trust for nearly ten years as a member of the faculty. He will forever be a model of work ethic, integrity, and leadership to which I will aspire for the rest of my career.”

 

Margaret Greer ’15, Director of Bar Passage Support and Professor of Practice

“During his tenure as Provost and Academic Dean, Morris Ratner has transformed the legal education experience for students at UC Law San Francisco. Because of the academic and bar skills programs, courses, and initiatives introduced and overseen by Dean Ratner, today’s students graduate with the knowledge and skills needed to pass the bar exam and excel as attorneys.

Dean Ratner has approached his role with innovative pragmatism. I think his effectiveness in this role is due in part to his willingness to experiment with different programs and courses to determine the most effective tools and methods for supporting students. He is always willing to take feedback which he incorporates as he develops new initiatives.

For the past ten years, I have worked with Dean Ratner on improving bar passage outcomes. During that time, the first-time bar passage rate has risen from 51% to 85% and that is due to Dean Ratner’s leadership and commitment to ensuring that students graduate with the skills, knowledge, and support needed to pass the bar exam. Dean Ratner is also a leader in legal education and academic success. As lead author on “Determinants of Success on the Bar Exam: One Law School’s Experience 2010-2023,” Dean Ratner has provided other law schools with a blueprint for how to examine their own students’ performance and ideas for improving bar passage rates.

I want to thank Dean Ratner for his leadership and mentorship over the years. Dean Ratner has been committed to improving outcomes for students and the school but has always done so while demonstrating true care and concern for the well-being of students and his colleagues.”

 

Stefano Moscato, Professor of Practice and Bar Success Analyst and Strategist

“When Morris was transitioning from Associate Dean for Academic and Professional Success to Academic Dean, he reached out and recruited me to succeed him in his former role (which we later re-branded as Associate Dean, Office for Academic Skills Instruction and Support). Morris took me under his wing and devoted countless hours to mentoring me in making that a smooth transition, all while he too was learning (and reimagining) his own new role as Academic Dean. Morris and I worked very closely on redesigning and implementing major curricular changes, primarily designed to integrate pervasive explicit legal analysis and academic skills instruction across the curriculum. We also revamped the Bar Passage Support program and reimagined how we provide at-risk students with a cohesive and effective academic support network. Morris’ leadership and tireless dedication to making our unique approach to skills instruction and support come to life was truly extraordinary. He led our effort to cultivate and mentor an ever-growing team of OASIS faculty; convinced veteran faculty to rethink how to more explicitly teach analytical skills and provide meaningful formative feedback in traditional doctrinal courses; and more generally took on the immense task of changing the overall teaching culture such that our student-centered approach is now fully integrated into all aspects of the curriculum.”

 

Elizabeth McGriff ’96, Assistant Dean for the Legal Education Opportunity Program (LEOP) and Assistant Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

“Provost & Academic Dean Morris Ratner is by far the most industrious person I have ever met in the 30 years of my legal and academic career. In addition to being a visionary and dynamic leader, he is at once absolutely brilliant and intuitive. These qualities were vital to his extraordinary impact on the College which included an enormous portfolio including but not limited to a broad range of academic design and success, student engagement, and leadership. I have had the distinct honor and pleasure of working with Dean Ratner over the last eight years on many projects, notably, co-authorship of an article in the Legal Journal of Education on bar success, the Campus Climate Advisory Committee, and the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group (DEIWG). I have also worked closely with Dean Ratner and others to improve bar passage rates which increased a remarkable 36% over a three-year period. Dean Ratner and his myriad gifts will be greatly missed.”