The university announced March 29 that John Vallery White of Louisiana State University's law school would replace retiring Dean Richard Morgan , pending the approval of the university regents. White is expected to take over duties as dean this summer after a planned research assignment in Italy this spring.

White was born and reared in rural Louisiana and has been a professor of law at LSU since 1992 and is a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Insubria in Como, Italy. He is a graduate of the Yale Law School and specializes in civil and human rights law, employment discrimination law and international law. White's recent scholarly work concentrates on how globalization and migration complicate civil rights protection.

"John White is a dynamic and accomplished legal scholar and I believe his vision and ambition make him a superb choice to lead the Boyd School of Law into its second decade," said UNLV President David Ashley in a statement.

Dean Morgan was out of town and unavailable for comment.

White said he looks forward to launching the next phase of the Boyd School's growth and getting to know Las Vegas. He said his number one priority as the new dean will be to build on the strong foundation laid by Morgan and increase the opportunities for faculty scholarly work. He said the real challenge would be achieving that while trying to maintain the packed schedule of community outreach set by Dean Morgan.

"I'm extremely proud to have been chosen and it's a fantastic law school with wonderful faculty and Dean Morgan has done an exceptional job. It's made for a wonderful opportunity," White said. "It would be hard to not be very, very happy about it. And I am very happy."

The next step, he said, is letting everyone outside of Nevada know just how great the Boyd School really is.

"I think everyone at the law school thinks, accurately, that they've built a very fine institution and what we want is for the rest of the academy to know the good work we've done. And that's a slow process and there's no quick answer to it," White said. "I think the Boyd school has something really special to show for itself and I think that getting its message out and improving the reputation will have benefits for the graduates and the city. The big issue is memorializing the accomplishments of the school in the minds of our colleagues and judges in the region and around the country."

White said he is excited to move to Las Vegas and getting to know the life beyond the Strip. He's planning to go house hunting in the next couple of weeks and become a Nevada resident before departing for Europe.

"It's a vibrant growing city and I think that that's attractive in and of itself," he said. "As a country boy I like the country and I like the city, but the in between is not always so attractive. And Las Vegas is now a pretty large city and diversifying on many different dimensions and I'm looking forward to that."

He is also not daunted by the prospect of moving to the desert during the hottest time of year.

"I'm not so worried about the heat, I'm worried about he lack of humidity," he said. "I've always enjoyed warm weather. I much prefer the heat to the cold but I have no experience with the dryness of the desert. It never gets that hot in Louisiana. We don't get the triple digits. That will be a change. I'm looking forward to the adjustment."