Donna Young

Donna E. Young is the founding dean of the Faculty of Law at Ryerson University, which welcomed its first cohort of students in September 2020. With a scholarship focus on law and inequality, race and gender discrimination, and academic freedom, Donna is leading the institution in reimagining legal education to create a new kind of lawyer, driven by a curriculum designed to enhance diversity in the legal profession, and to improve access to justice. 

Before assuming her deanship, Donna was the President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy at Albany Law School, and a joint faculty member at the University at Albany’s Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. With work focusing on criminal and employment law, federal civil procedure, and gender and race studies, Donna has brought a breadth of experience and interdisciplinary approach to her new role. 

From engaging critically with technology as it intersects with the law to exploring new ways to expand the reach of representation and justice, Ryerson’s Faculty of Law is designed to prepare lawyers for the changing demands of the legal economy while increasing accessibility and inclusion in the legal field.