RALEIGH, N.C. – Melissa Essary, dean of Campbell University’s Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law has been recognized by Business Leader magazine as one of twenty-four Triangle Impact Education Leaders of 2007-08.

Essary, who joined Campbell Law as dean in August of 2006, was selected for her tremendous effort in orchestrating the law school’s summer 2009 move from Buies Creek, N.C. to Raleigh, the largest state capital without a law school. Dean Essary served at the center of this bold and visionary initiative that culminated in October 2007, when Campbell University’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to approve the Raleigh relocation.

Dean Essary and her team worked with a multitude of constituencies, both internal and external and though the decision to relocate was complex, 100 percent of the Law School faculty plan to teach in the new location, and 100 percent of the senior staff plan to work in Raleigh. Business Leader previously honored Dean Essary as a Triangle Impact Business Leader (Feb. 2008) for her principal role in this move, which will offer unprecedented opportunities for Campbell students and faculty to access all branches of government and to further utilize Raleigh’s concentration of legal experts.

In addition, Business Leader commended Dean Essary’s dedication to increasing enrollment of minority students, which resulted in an increase from three to 14 percent for last fall’s entering class.

“I’m honored to be part of the exceptional group that Business Leader has chosen to receive this award,” said Dean Essary. “I am proud to help lead one of the premier institutions of legal education in the Southeast and look forward to building upon this legacy as we relocate our school to its new home in Raleigh.”

Campbell University’s Dr. Ben Hawkins, dean of the Lundy-Fetterman School of Business, was also selected as an Impact Education Leader.

About Campbell Law School: Since its founding in 1976, the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others and create a more just society. The School has received two prestigious awards from the American Bar Association (ABA), the first for having the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program, and the second for having the nation’s top Professionalism Program. In 2008, the Law School’s Moot Court Program was ranked 17th nationally among 196 ABA accredited law schools. Campbell Law boasts more than 3,000 alumni, including 2,000 who reside and work in North Carolina as well as the highest average overall passage rate on the July N.C. Bar Exam for the past 17 years. For more information, visit law.campbell.edu.

###

Media Contact: Ashley Arnold, 910.893.1812, arnold@law.campbell.edu