Meet Matt Kerns, the new Associate Dean of Admissions
Matthew V. Kerns has joined Widener University Commonwealth Law School as its new Associate Dean of Admissions. He was previously with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, where he served as the Assistant Dean of Admissions, Scholarships, and Enrollment Data.
While he is new to the Commonwealth family, Dean Kerns’ new role represents a homecoming for the Edwardsville, Luzerne County native.
“My wife and I are both Pennsylvania natives – I’m from across the river from Wilkes-Barre and she’s from Claysville, near Pittsburgh,” said Dean Kerns. “Being chosen as the Associate Dean of Admissions at Widener Law Commonwealth is a great step for me professionally and gives us the chance to raise our two young children in the place we call home and close to our families. We couldn’t be happier to be here.”
Dean Kerns brings with him a long list of accomplishments. At Bowen, he increased applications over 120% and raised the entering class credentials to their highest in over a decade. He also strongly supported pre-law programs and founded the Arkansas Pre-Law Advisor Listserv, the Arkansas Pre-Law Advisor Meeting, and the Arkansas Spring Recruitment Swing. In addition to his regular duties, he served on the UA Little Rock Safe Zone Executive Committee and Arkansas Mock Trial Foundation Executive Committee.
Dean Kerns currently serves on the executive board for the Southwestern Association of Prelaw Advisors and several Law School Admission Council committees and workgroups.
The new dean says he is looking forward to getting to know the Commonwealth community so he can begin recruiting the right law school candidates. “Today, law schools have to be mission driven and clearly define their identities,” Kerns said. “Widener Law Commonwealth has a great story to tell and I’m looking forward to being part of it.”
“We extend a warm welcome to Dean Kerns as he starts in his critical role in representing the law school to prospective students,” said Dean Christian A. Johnson. “He was an outstanding candidate, we are lucky to have gotten him and we are excited to see him get to work.”
Dean Kerns earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in History at Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania and his Juris Doctor degree at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, Florida. He is a member of the Florida Bar Association, American Bar Association, and several pre-law advisor associations.
You can read his profile page to learn more about Dean Kerns.