Ellen Keane Rutt '90

Ellen Keane Rutt is the Associate Dean for Enrollment Management and Strategic Planning. She teaches a seminar in Special Education Law and has also taught Lawyering Process. She received her B.A. in American Studies from the University of Notre Dame, an M.A. in Communications from Fairfield University, and an M.B.A. in International Marketing (with a language emphasis in French) from the American Graduate School of International Management. She also received her J.D. with honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law. She is an elected James W. Cooper Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation. Dean Rutt is admitted to practice in the state courts in Connecticut, the Federal District Court of Connecticut, the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

After graduation she was a litigator with a large firm. She joined the Law School as a Lawyering Process and Moot Court instructor in 1993, and became an administrative dean the following year. She has held a number of administrative positions at the Law School. Dean Rutt is a past chair of the board of trustees of the Law School Admission Council, and has worked closely with leaders from the American Bar Association Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar, and the American Association of Law Schools. She serves on ABA accreditation site visit teams for the ABA Section on Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. She is also a member of the National Association of Law Placement. Dean Rutt is active in the legal community, as well as in a number of nonprofit organizations. She serves as a pro bono advocate for children with disabilities, particularly in the area of special education and reasonable accommodation.