Benjamin Barros, dean of The University of Toledo College of Law, was elected to serve a three-year term on the executive committee of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) at its annual meeting in New Orleans this month.

The AALS Executive Committee is comprised of nine members from across the country who are respected among their peers as leaders in legal education. Barros, an expert on property law, was one of the youngest educators to serve on the executive committee when he served a one-year term in 2014.

“Dean Barros is well-positioned to serve legal education as a member of the AALS Executive Committee,” Judith Areen, executive director of AALS, said. “His thoughtful advice and prior experience on the committee will help guide the association in our efforts to advance excellence in legal education.”

“Law and lawyers are essential to our society and our democracy, and our profession is rooted in legal education,” Barros said. “I am honored to have this opportunity to serve the AALS and its member schools as we work to shape the future of legal education and the legal profession.”

Barros joined UT as dean of the College of Law in 2015. He teaches and writes in the areas of property law and theory, regulatory takings, property law reform, and the philosophy of science. He is the founding editor of the Journal of Law, Property, and Society. In 2015, he released a casebook on property law with Aspen/Wolters Kluwer.

Prior to joining UT, Barros was the associate dean of academic affairs and professor of law at Widener University School of Law. Barros practiced as a litigator before teaching. He clerked for Judge Milton Pollack of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and later worked at the law firms of Latham & Watkins LLP and Debevoise & Plimpton, both in New York City.

Barros graduated from Fordham University School of Law, where he was an editorial board member on the Fordham Law Review and a member of Order of the Coif. He holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Colgate University and a master’s degree in philosophy from the University of Maryland.

The Association of American Law Schools, founded in 1900, is a nonprofit association of 179 law schools. Its members enroll most of the nation’s law students and produce the majority of the country’s lawyers and judges, as well as many of its lawmakers. The association’s mission is to uphold and advance excellence in legal education. In support of this mission, AALS promotes the core values of excellence in teaching and scholarship, academic freedom, and diversity, including diversity of backgrounds and viewpoints, while seeking to improve the legal profession, to foster justice, and to serve communities — local, national and international.