David Schizer

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David Schizer (born c1969) was named the fourteenth dean of Columbia Law School at Columbia University in 2004. He was appointed dean at 35, making him the youngest dean in the school's history and one of the youngest deans of a top law school.

The head of the search committee, Columbia Professor Michael C. Dorf, has noted in interviews that several of Columbia's rival schools had recently appointed new and "relatively . . . young" deans. Dorf added that the excitement around a young, 'star' dean poses a fundraising challenge for competing schools. Even so, Schizer was eight years younger than Harvard Law School dean Elena Kagan was when she was appointed at 43.

Schizer was an internal candidate for the dean's position. Prior to his appointment as dean, Schizer served as the Wilbur H. Friedman Professor of Tax Law at Columbia. His appointment was a source of controversy and division within the law school. Several prominent faculty members, including Samuel Issacharoff and Jeremy Waldron, left CLS for New York University as a result.

Schizer clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the 1994-95 term, and for Judge Alex Kozinski of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1993-94 term. Schizer is a member of the Federalist Society.