"Ray is an outstanding scholar with a sterling international reputation," Foss said. "He was selected as a Fulbright Distinguished Chair last year, and is a long-time servant of our law faculty. The perception of our Law Center among the law community has improved markedly under Ray's tenure as interim dean, as reflected in a 15-point rise in the school's national ranking in U.S. News & World Report magazine. We expect that upward trend to continue."
Nimmer's appointment is subject to approval by the UH System Board of Regents.
"I am excited by the opportunity to continue to lead the University of Houston Law Center to ever-increasing prominence as one of the top urban law schools in the country. We have ambitious plans for the future, and I look forward to working with our faculty and staff to quickly make these plans a reality," Nimmer said.
Nimmer holds the Leonard H. Childs Professorship and is a founding member of the Institute for Intellectual Property & Information Law at the University of Houston Law Center. In 2007, he served as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair of International Commercial Law at Universidad Catholica in Lisbon.
Admitted to practice in Illinois, Texas, and the United States Supreme Court, he was a consultant to the National Science Foundation and the Office of the Legal Advisor of the U.S. State Department. In addition to his expertise in technology issues, he is an expert in areas of business law and previously served as the reporter for the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA).
Nimmer is the author of more than 20 books and numerous articles, including a three-volume treatise on Information Law, a multi-volume book on the Law of Computer Technology, a treatise on Modern Licensing Law, and a four-volume treatise on Commercial Asset Based Financing. He is a member of the American Law Institute, the Texas Bar Foundation, and the American College of Commercial Finance Attorneys. He is a frequent speaker at programs in the United States and abroad in the areas of intellectual property, business and technology law.
He is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Law, the International Who's Who of Internet Lawyers, and the International Who's Who of Business Lawyers. The first edition of his book - The Law of Computer Technology - received a national book award from the Association of American Publishers in 1985. Nimmer's CV is available at http://www.law.uh.edu/faculty/cv/raymondnimmer.pdf
About the University of Houston Law Center
The University of Houston Law Center is the leading law school in nation's fifth-largest legal market, and its curriculum is among the broadest offered in the Southwest. The Law Center was established in 1947 and enrolls more than 1,000 students in its degree programs, offering J.D., LL.M. and "concurrent" degrees that allow students to obtain two degrees in less time than individual programs would require. The school is home to the Blakely Advocacy Institute; the Center for Children, Law & Policy; the Center for Consumer Law; the Criminal Justice Institute; the Center for Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Law; the Health Law & Policy Institute; the Institute for Higher Education Law & Governance; and the Institute for Intellectual Property & Information Law. The Law Center includes two "Top 10" specialty programs - health law and intellectual property law - as ranked by U.S. New & World Report magazine.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas' premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 35,000 students.
For more information about UH, visit the university's Newsroom at www.uh.edu/newsroom