James Allan Gash (born 15 March 1967) is an American legal scholar and academic administrator who currently serves as the president of Pepperdine University.

Education

Gash received his Bachelor of Arts in finance from

Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University (ACU) is a Private university, private Churches of Christ, Christian university in Abilene, Texas. It was founded in 1906 as ''Childers Classical Institute''. ACU is one of the largest private universities in the Sout ...

(ACU) in 1989. While at ACU, Gash played for the Abilene Christian Wildcats football team. He graduated summa cum laude. In 2019, Gash was awarded the Jim Womack Award for professional achievement by a former ACU student-athlete. Gash graduated summa cum laude with his JD from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1993. While in law school, he served as editor-in-chief of the

Pepperdine Law Review The ''Pepperdine Law Review'' is a student-edited law journal published by an independent student group composed of second- and third-year J.D. students at Pepperdine University School of Law. The Law Review publishes four to five issues a year an ...

and finished at the top of his graduating class.

Career

Early career

After graduating from law school, Gash served as a law clerk to the Honorable Edith H. Jones, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Gash was later a trial attorney at the firm Kirkland & Ellis from 1995 until 1999.

Pepperdine

In 1999, Gash began teaching at the Pepperdine University School of Law. In 2005, he became the school's associate dean for student life, and in 2017 he became the assistant dean of strategic planning and external relations. Before being named president of Pepperdine, Gash served as the director of the Sudreau Global Justice Program at the Pepperdine University School of Law. On 14 February 2019, it was announced that he would become the eighth president of Pepperdine University, succeeding

Andrew K. Benton Andrew K. Benton (born c. 1952) is an American lawyer and academic administrator who served as the seventh president of Pepperdine University and as an interim president at the University of Central Oklahoma. Early life Benton was born in Lawrenc ...

. He was inaugurated on 25 September 2019.

Legal aid in Africa

In 2009, Gash began providing

legal aid Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to co ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and especially in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

. Over the next decade, he worked to reduce the backlog of juvenile cases, helped institute plea bargaining in the nation's justice system, and became the first American to argue a case before the Ugandan Court of Appeals. In 2012, he was named special advisor to the High Court of Uganda, and in 2018

LivingStone International University LivingStone International University (LIU) is a private university in Uganda near Mbale town. It is overseen by a board of directors composed of Christians from both Uganda and U.S. The university is non-denominational with no denomination oversi ...

in Mbale named him Chancellor, a largely ceremonial position. In 2013, Gash won the Warren M. Christopher International Lawyer of the Year award, given by the California Lawyers Association.

Publications and Film

Gash is the author of several academic law review articles, with a focus on punitive damages. In 2016, Gash told the story of his work in Africa in the book ''Divine Collision: An African Boy, an American Lawyer, and Their Remarkable Battle for Freedom''. He is also the subject of a documentary called ''Remand'', which covers his work in Uganda.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gash, Jim Living people Abilene Christian University Abilene Christian University alumni Pepperdine University alumni Pepperdine University faculty American members of the Churches of Christ People from Malibu, California Presidents of Pepperdine University 1967 births People associated with Kirkland & Ellis