Dean Stacy L. Leeds

Stacy Leeds is Willard H. Pedrick Dean and Regents Professor at Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University. She is an experienced leader in law and higher education with expertise in American Indian Law, tribal governance, property, economic development and the laws of the Cherokee Nation.

From 2011-2018, Leeds served as the dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law and was the first native woman to serve as dean of a law school in the United States. She holds law degrees from the University of Wisconsin (LL.M.) and the University of Tulsa (J.D.).  She is also a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A.) and the University of Tennessee (M.B.A).  

Prior to joining the University of Arkansas, Leeds was a professor and administrator at the University of Kansas and the University of North Dakota. She began her academic career as a William H. Hastie Fellow at the University of Wisconsin School of Law. 

She is a recipient of the American Bar Association's Spirit of Excellence Award and an elected member of the American Law Institute. She is a former Alphonse Fletcher, Sr. Fellow affiliated with the W.E.B. DuBois Institute (now Hutchins Center) at Harvard University and a former Sequoyah Fellow at Northeastern State University.

Leeds is well-known for national and local public service. She was the first woman to serve as a Cherokee Nation Supreme Court Justice and she has served as a judge for many tribal judiciaries. Her current board service includes the Native Forward, Kituwah LLC, Akiptan, Inc., and The Foundation for America's Public Lands (a congressionally chartered nonprofit).