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Pepperdine's School of Law boasted new rankings and awards this week as the Straus Institute was ranked the No.-1 program by U.S. News and World Report for Dispute Resolution, and Professor Thomas Stipanowich was awarded the D’Alemberte/ Raven award by the American Bar Association.
This is the fourth consecutive year the Straus Institute has earned the top position, bringing its grand total to seven No.-1 rankings. The institute has never fallen below third in the last 12 years.
“Year after year, Straus continues to be recognized as the premier dispute resolution program in the nation,” said School of Law Dean Ken Starr in a recent press release. “Around the globe, and right here at home, Straus admirably embodies Pepperdine University's enduring commitment to the profound values of peacemaking in a hurting world.”
D'Alemberte/ Raven recipient Stipanowich joined the Straus Institute in January 2006 and serves as the co-academic director with Peter Robinson and as a full-time professor. At the ABA Dispute Resolution Section's Spring Conference in Seattle, Stipanowich was recognized as a someone who “contributed significantly to the field by developing new or innovative programs, improvements in the service and efficiency, research and writings” in dispute resolution, according to a Pepperdine press release.
“It’s really a recognition of work that I have done over three decades, and from a personal standpoint it’s really an indication that at least someone thinks that I have done some things that have made a difference in the field of conflict,” Stipanowich said.
Catering to more than 350 students, the Straus Institute aims to close the gap between theory and practice with two master's programs, Master of Dispute Resolution and the specialized LL.M. research degree, and a certificate in dispute resolution.
“The institute does a better job bringing academic theory with what’s going on in practice than some other institutions do,” Stipanowich said. “We have a number of full-time faculty as well as a number of very committed adjunct teachers who teach courses here. We have as good a teaching faculty here as you’ll find anywhere. There is a wide range of expertise that you’ll find here.”
Pepperdine's reputation for its dispute resolution program has helped draw in prospective students seeking the best and most innovative program.
“The general reputation for Pepperdine in the legal community as an outstanding place to study dispute resolution is legend,” said second-year Straus Institute student Tom Watts. “It is the gold standard for making the leap into full-time dispute resolution. The course of study that you engage in Straus in those years makes you much more effective as a person. It make you much more able to understand people. It [allows you] to look at conflict objectively rather than be judgmentally and the black and white terms that the law encourages.”
Now consistently holding down the top-ranking spot and beating out this year's top five candidates – Harvard University, the University of Missouri-Columbia, Hamline University and Ohio State University – the Straus Institute has been at the top of its class since it was founded in 1986. Initially the first program in the southwest to offer a dispute resolution program, Straus continues to evolve its teaching to improve the techniques and opportunities for its students.
“We are doing more and more work internationally as opportunities arise in Asia, in Europe, Africa and other parts of the world,” Stipanowich said. “There will be more opportunities for people to study abroad and for international students to come to Pepperdine. We are doing more work with [where students] can watch streaming videos about conflict.”
Although Southern California may be considered the "epicenter of mediation," according to Stipanowich, Pepperdine remains on the forefront of dispute resolution programs with their innovative classes, design and program schedule.
“Straus has the only option to jump in full time,” Watts said. “[The program] is given to you in calculated increments … so there is some sense of a progression to the Straus experience. The other programs sort of look to Straus to be on the cutting edge.”
The Straus Institute hosts a conference, “Negotiating, Mediating, and Managing Conflict: Evolution in a Global Society,” today at the School of Law from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Submitted 04-10-2008
MALIBU, CA
