Usha R. Rodrigues became dean of the University of Georgia School of Law on January 1, 2025. She joined the School of Law's faculty in the fall of 2005 and was named the holder of the M.E. Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law in 2014. From 2015 to 2018 and for the fall semester of 2024, Rodrigues served as the law school's associate dean for faculty development. She was awarded the title of University Professor in 2019, which was then awarded to no more than one UGA faculty member per year and is reserved for professors who have served as “change agents” for UGA. Her other university honors and roles include service as UGA's interim vice provost for academic affairs and as the University Council’s parliamentarian. Her teaching and research focus on corporate law, business ethics, corporations and securities regulation. Rodrigues has served as an expert in both litigation and transactional matters. She has testified before the House Financial Services Committee and presented before the Securities and Exchange Commission on three occasions. She has served as the chair of the Executive Committee of the Association of American Law Schools Business Associations Section and as the president of the Law and Entrepreneurship Association. She was elected to the American Law Institute in 2016. Rodrigues was a corporate associate with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Reston, Va., where she specialized in corporate law and technology transactions. She also served as a judicial law clerk to Judge Thomas L. Ambro of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
