February 20, 2023 – Stanford – Stanford Law School (SLS) announced the appointment of Anna Wang as Associate Dean for Public Service and Public Interest Law. Wang moves into this role following 14 years as the law school’s Executive Director of the John and Terry Levin Center for Public Service and Public Interest Law.

Wang will assume the role as Associate Dean this summer upon the retirement of her longtime colleague Diane Chin, who has served as Associate Dean for Public Service and Public Interest Law since 2009 and helped launch the Center in 2007.

“Having worked side by side with Diane for so many years to help students pursue public service careers, I am honored to follow in her footsteps,” Wang said. “We have built a thriving public interest community here and I am excited to continue expanding the school’s avenues for growing the public interest legal community.”

As Associate Dean, Wang will oversee and develop many of the Levin Center’s programs and support SLS students and alumni in achieving their social justice and personal goals through finding meaningful work in the law. 

“There could be no better-positioned successor for this important role than Anna, who has distinguished herself for many years in one of the law school’s most important missions, the promotion and support of public service and public interest work,” said Jenny Martinez, Dean and Richard E. Lang Professor of Law. “Through Diane’s vision and leadership, the entire landscape of public interest programs, support networks, and community at Stanford Law School has flourished and grown under her leadership. The law school’s public service and public interest programs are on firm footing and will continue strong into the future thanks to these two members of our community.”

Wang has spent the majority of her career focused on the public interest legal community, including by introducing students to public service careers, connecting students to mentors, helping young lawyers identify professional goals that align with their personal values, and teaching them how to navigate the market. Prior to joining Stanford Law School in 2004, Wang served as the first Executive Director of Vision New America, a nonprofit civic leadership development organization in Silicon Valley. 

Wang received her BA with honors from UCLA and a JD from U.C. Berkeley School of Law. She serves on the Board of Directors of Chinese for Affirmative Action, a San Francisco nonprofit that works to strengthen and sustain a progressive Asian and Pacific American movement through community organizing and policy advocacy. She is also a member and previous co-chair of the Stanford University Board on Judicial Affairs, a university standing committee charged with overseeing judicial affairs related to academic integrity and student conduct.

Chin helped launch the Levin Center in 2007 and also co-established SLS’s Center for Racial Justice along with Professor Richard Banks, the Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of Law. She designed the undergraduate diversity pipeline program and established the Stanford Law Scholars Institute with Dean of Admissions Faye Deal. Chin will remain active in the Scholars program, which provides support and training to underrepresented undergraduate students exploring a career in the law. She also will continue to teach a public interest seminar at the law school that she has taught for decades. 

About Stanford Law School

Stanford Law School is one of the nation’s leading institutions for legal scholarship and education. Its alumni are among the most influential decision makers in law, politics, business, and high technology. Faculty members argue before the Supreme Court, testify before Congress, produce outstanding legal scholarship and empirical analysis, and contribute regularly to the nation’s press as legal and policy experts. Stanford Law School has established a model for legal education that provides rigorous interdisciplinary training, hands-on experience, global perspective, and focus on public service, spearheading a movement for change.