Tulane Law alumna named Dean of St. Louis University Law School

Tulane alumna Twinette Johnson (L’99) has been named dean of St. Louis University School of Law.

Johnson, who also is a graduate of SLU – she received her B.A. and Ph.D. from SLU – was formerly dean and professor of law at the University of the District of Columbia Clarke School of Law in Washington, D.C. Since 2017, she served in various roles at UDC, including as dean, interim dean, associate dean for academic affairs and as director of academic success.

She is a national expert in bar exam preparation and her scholarship focuses on higher education access policy, learning theory models in legal education, affinity group formation and identity, and disaster policy. 

Johnson is known for her innovative work in the academic world. As dean of UDC, she established strategies to streamline law school operations and created programs connecting the law school to the local community, including a program serving a local detention facility. She established a fund to support students facing personal issues that would affect their academic success. 

Johnson’s previous legal experience includes a clerkship on the Missouri Supreme Court with Judge W. Duane Benton. She also held a position as an associate attorney at Shearman and Sterling, LLP, a New York-based law firm. 

Johnson started her academic career at SLU, first serving as an associate professor of legal writing, then as an associate director of bar prep programs and later as interim director of student activities and leadership. She later joined Southern Illinois University-Carbondale as associate professor of law and director of academic success before moving to UDC.

Johnson earned her Ph.D. in Public and Social Policy from Saint Louis University; her J.D. from Tulane University School of Law; and her B.A. in English Literature also from Saint Louis University.