Rutgers University President Robert Barchi has announced that John J. Farmer, Jr., who took a leave of absence in April 2013 as Dean of Rutgers School of Law–Newark to serve as University Senior Vice President and General Counsel, will complete his temporary tenure and return to the law faculty as University Professor, effective July 1, 2014. Farmer will continue to hold an administrative post as Special Counsel to the President.
Ronald K. Chen ’83, Distinguished Professor of Law and Judge Leonard I. Garth Scholar, will continue to lead the law school as Acting Dean.
President Barchi also announced the appointment of long-time law school senior administrator Frances Bouchoux ’87 as Interim Senior Vice President and Chief Enterprise Risk Management, Ethics and Compliance Officer. Bouchoux had been Senior Associate Dean before taking a leave of absence last spring to serve as Senior Special Counsel in the Office of the General Counsel. At the law school, she had overseen admissions, career services, student affairs and the Minority Student Program. Dean Emeritus Stuart L. Deutsch will continue to supervise those offices as Acting Senior Associate Dean.
“We are thrilled that John Farmer is returning to the law school and that our students will again have the ability to learn from him directly,” said Dean Chen. “And while we continue to miss Fran Bouchoux’s daily presence in our community, her work in this vital function for the university makes us inordinately proud.”
In announcing the changes, Barchi said that Farmer, as a former Attorney General of New Jersey, was uniquely qualified to help lead Rutgers through the legal challenges associated with its integration with the former University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. “Thanks to his vast expertise, his invaluable experience, and his steadfast leadership, we have been able to navigate successfully through this pivotal post-integration phase and establish robust compliance and risk management structures that will ensure the new Rutgers is founded on firm footing.”
Monica Barrett, who is currently Associate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, has been appointed Interim Senior Vice President and General Counsel, effective July 1, 2014. Barrett, who has served in the Office of General Counsel since 1996, is an expert in higher education law.
John Farmer became dean of Rutgers School of Law–Newark in July 2009. His legal career has spanned service in high-profile government appointments, private practice in diverse areas of criminal law, and teaching and law school administration.
Having served as senior counsel and team leader for the 9/11Commission and principal author of its final report, Farmer has a particular interest in post-9/11 safety and security issues. He has taught National Security Law at the law school for many years, lectured extensively on security-related topics, and written the New York Times notable book The Ground Truth: The Story Behind America’s Defense on 9/11.
His recent awards include the Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Award from the Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey, the Distinguished Public Service Award from Leadership New Jersey, and NJBIZ General Counsel of the Year (Non-Profit or Government category).
Fran Bouchoux earned a J.D. with high honors from Rutgers School of Law–Newark, where she was editor-in-chief of the Rutgers Computer and Technology Law Journal and a Saul Tischler Scholar. After graduation, she was associated with the New York office of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton where her practice areas included commercial litigation and bankruptcy. She joined the law school in 1993 and served as a senior administrator until 2013. As Senior Associate Dean she oversaw student services and served on the admissions committee. She also served as advisor to the Rutgers Computer and Technology Law Journal and taught a course on Human Trafficking. She is past vice chair of the New Jersey Supreme Court Committee on Women in the Courts and past secretary of the New Jersey Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. In 2013, Bouchoux received the Trailblazer Award from the New Jersey Women Lawyers Association.
As Interim Senior Vice President and Chief Enterprise Risk Management, Ethics and Compliance Officer, Bouchoux heads an office whose functions touch areas across the university including athletics, public safety, student life, academics, research, finance, human resources, facilities, information technology, and data security.
