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

Education

Gash received his Bachelor of Arts in finance from Abilene Christian University (ACU) in 1989. While at ACU, Gash was the place kicker 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 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. He was inaugurated on 25 September 2019.

Legal aid in Africa

In 2009, Gash began providing legal aid in Africa and especially in Uganda. 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 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

1. "James A Gash, Born 03/15/1967 in CaliforniaBirthIndex.org". www.californiabirthindex.org. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
2. ^ "James Allan Gash Faculty Pepperdine School of Law". law.pepperdine.edu. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
3. "Nine more ACU greats to take their place in hall of fame". acusports.com. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
4. ^ Banks, Adelle M. "Criminal justice project a step of faith for lawyer, Ugandan youth". Washington Post. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
5. "James A. Gash Named Eighth President and CEO of Pepperdine University Pepperdine University". www.pepperdine.edu. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
6. Bravo, Samantha. "A New Promise to Pepperdine". Malibu Times. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
7. Venema, Vibeke (1 March 2016). "The schoolboy wrongly accused of two murders". BBC News. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
8. "Awards – California Lawyers Association".
9. "Author Page for James Allan Gash :: SSRN". papers.ssrn.com. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
10. Gash, Jim (January 2016). Divine collision : an African boy, an American lawyer, and their remarkable battle for freedom. Worthy Publishing. ISBN 9781617956713.

• Living people
• 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