As we begin the new academic year, I would like to welcome all new and returning students, faculty and staff to our campuses. I extend a special welcome to the students, faculty and staff of our newest academic unit, the Drexel University College of Law.

Drexel is one of the country’s 126 best national universities, according to U.S.News & World Report. With the opening of the College of Law, we become one of only 24 of the U.S. News top private doctoral universities that has both a medical school and a law school. We are also now a part of Philadelphia’s legal education tradition, joining the region’s five other outstanding law schools.

The Drexel University College of Law holds a unique niche in legal education in our region and the nation. Built on Drexel’s strengths in technology, medicine and entrepreneurship, the College will be a leader in intellectual property law, health care law and the law of entrepreneurial business. We also are the only one of two law school in the nation to adopt a co-operative model. The co-op component of our law program will produce attorneys with an advantage in real-world experience. Our law students will augment classroom learning six months of full-time professional employment. They will acquire a practical education at our region’s best corporations, law firms, agencies and organizations.

Drexel Law has received overwhelming support from the University and the region’s legal community. We received more than 1,700 applications—a third more than our original goal—for our talented inaugural class of 180 students. The members of our outstanding faculty join us from practices and law schools around the country. We have formed almost 100 co-op partnerships with businesses, nonprofit organizations, government and the judiciary.

The opening of Drexel Law marks the end of an intensive two-year process led by Senior Vice President and General Counsel Tobey Oxholm. Students, faculty and staff served on the Law School Development Committee and our trustees, under the guidance of Chairman Joseph H. Jacovini, gave the initiative their unanimous support.

We will officially mark the opening of the Drexel University College of Law on September 26, when many distinguished guests, including American Bar Association President Karen J. Mathis and Third Circuit Chief Judge Anthony Scirica, join us for a celebratory dinner. I am looking forward to sharing this special occasion with them and meeting with our first law students. Congratulations and thanks to all who helped us reach this milestone.

C.R. "Chuck" Pennoni Interim President