Western State College of Law’s incoming dean, Marisa Cianciarulo, will step into her new role on July 1 following the retirement of current Dean Allen Easley.
Easley started at Western State, Orange County’s oldest law school, in 2013 and became dean in 2015. He has also spent time at the University of La Verne and William Mitchell College of Law in Minnesota following 25 years with Washburn University School of Law in Kansas.
Cianciarulo hails from Chapman University as the former interim dean of the Fowler Law School. She has worked as a professor since 2006 and founded the Bette and Wylie Aitken Family Protection Clinic.
“Western State has a rich history of success including significant growth under Dean Easley, and I am honored to become part of this respected institution to help position it for continued success,” Cianciarulo said in a statement.
Acquired by Irvine’s Westcliff University in 2021, Western State reports a total of almost 12,000 alumni. College officials also reported that this recent year had the strongest academic incoming class in the school’s history.
