Rodney Fong, Associate Dean for Academic Achievement, Institutional Assessment & Bar Preparation at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago, was appointed by the American Bar Association to be a member of the Council for Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Educational Pipeline.
The ABA Pipeline Council acts as a think-tank and programmatic incubator for activities that foster a more diverse educational pipeline into the legal profession and provides the forum for key stakeholders to address issues and build networks for change in educational systems and the legal profession.
“Pipeline programs are necessary to insure the flow of future lawyers from underrepresented communities,” Fong said. “There are countless pipeline efforts across the country from high-school moot court teams to bar-association mentoring programs. I hope we can use the ABA’s national presence to maximize these pipeline efforts by fostering collaborations and sharing best practices.”
The Pipeline Council was established in 2000 by ABA President Bill Paul. Originally tasked with developing the Legal Opportunity Scholarship, the Council has expanded its efforts to include national initiatives, robust programming, rich resources and enhanced visibility for pipeline diversity programs and leadership in the legal profession.
For more than twenty-five years, Fong has designed, directed and consulted with academic support programs at several ABA law schools. He is known for his innovative approaches to developing institutional strategies to enhance student success in law school and passing the bar exam.
Fong has been studying the effects of psychological barriers on student performance, such as belonging, imposter syndrome, growth mindset, resilience and stereotype threat, and is converting strategies that have helped college students into strategies to improve law student performance. He also applies a multi-faceted approach to working with students by considering their life experiences, cultural background, generation and other factors that might affect their performance.
Fong currently serves as Chair of the State Bar of California Council on Access & Fairness and has previously served as Chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Academic Support Programs and on the Board of Trustees of the Law School Admissions Council. He also participated on the American Bar Association’s Center for Racial and Ethnic Diversity and volunteered on the Board of Directors of For People of Color, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering people of color to enter law school and become attorneys.
Immediately before joining John Marshall in March 2018, Fong was the Director of the Office of Legal Services at the State Bar of California. He is a native of San Francisco and attended the University of San Francisco for his bachelor and J.D. degrees.
