Login | May 08, 2025
Longtime Akron Law professor Carolyn Dessin retires
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: May 27, 2022
She started her career as a music teacher and conductor, making the decision to go to law school and become a professor several years later, now Carolyn Dessin is retiring after serving as a member of the faculty at The University of Akron School of Law for more than 20 years.
The Aileen McMurray Trusler Professor of Law will officially take on emeritus status on May 31.
“I recently turned 65 and I decided it was time for some new blood at the law school,” said Dessin. “I think there’s something to be said for stepping away and allowing new people to come in.”
On May 25, the law school held a retirement party for Dessin in the McDowell Common.
“Carolyn Dessin is an outstanding educator who will be missed by all,” said Akron Law Dean Emily Janoski-Haehlen. “She has provided so much to Akron Law over the years through her amazing teaching, countless service commitments to the law school and the students, mentorship of faculty and graduates, advising of moot court teams and overall camaraderie with her peers.
“She was one of the first faculty members I met when I interviewed at Akron Law and I remember we shared a bond over our love of moot court,” said Janoski-Haehlen. “She has become a dear friend and valued colleague and adviser, and I will miss her. I will especially miss her beautiful singing voice at commencement.”
While she will no longer be a full-time faculty member, Dessin will be teaching two sections of the Wills, Trusts & Estates course in the spring of 2023.
A native of Philadelphia, Dessin received her bachelor’s degree in music education from Temple University. She then majored in conducting at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, earning her master’s degree in music in 1980.
Dessin spent the next four years teaching music in the Colonial School District. She also served as the music director at various churches and synagogues in the Philadelphia area.
“After I realized I could not make a living as a musician, I began weighing my other options,” said Dessin. “There were no lawyers in my family, but my best friend from music school’s wife was a lawyer and she seemed to enjoy it.
“She was a Russian literature major so I knew you did not need a specific degree to attend law school, so I decided to try it.”
Upon obtaining her juris doctorate from Villanova University School of Law in 1987, she served as a law clerk to the late 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Collins J. Seitz.
From 1988 to 1991, Dessin worked as an associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, where she focused on estate planning and nonprofit law.
Dessin said she always planned to use her law degree to teach so when the opportunity presented itself she made the switch to academia, initially serving as an assistant professor of law––and later an associate professor of law––at Widener University School of Law in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Prior to starting as an associate professor of law at The University of Akron in 1999, Dessin was a visiting associate professor at the University of Idaho College of Law.
During her many years at Akron Law, Dessin taught a variety of courses ranging from Wills, Trusts & Estates and Estate Planning to Contracts and Elder Law, along with other subjects.
Dessin was promoted to professor in 2010 and served as associate dean of students from 2013 to 2015.
In 2015, she became the Aileen McMurray Trusler Professor of Law.
Akron Law Professor Emeritus Bill Jordan said during his tenure as associate dean for academic affairs, he found Dessin to be an “ideal” faculty member.
“She was a great and demanding teacher,” said Jordan. “She stepped in when we had a need. For many years she chaired the academic committee, which judged both academic dismissals and student disciplinary matters. She wasn’t a hanging judge, but she was no-nonsense, holding students to high ethical standards and demanding that they demonstrate a real commitment to improving their academic performance.
“She was also one of the few, perhaps the only faculty member who had been trained as a teacher. So she understood pedagogical theory and punctured more than a few balloons during our discussions of teaching and testing.
“She also stepped in to teach new courses or additional sections of courses if the need arose. She was truly committed to the law school. And she was almost always in her office except on days when she taught in the evening,” said Jordan.
“She will be sorely missed.”
A resident of Akron, Dessin currently sings in the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. She previously served on the board of trustees and chaired the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus Operating Committee.
Dessin said she is looking forward to having more time on her hands and she has a few ideas about how she plans to use it.
“I am hoping to write a few articles on some difficult elder law issues and do some traveling,” said Dessin. “I love to travel and will finally be able to go to some of the places I love in the off-season.”