As a second Trump administration approaches, we’re running out of time to confirm as many federal judges as possible to provide a check on his presidential power and curb his stated policy priorities.
There are 40 federal judicial vacancies and 16 nominations before the Senate right now—as our civil rights hang in the balance, take action now!
Garry W. Jenkins is president of Bates College. A nationally respected authority on nonprofit organizations, corporate governance, lawyers and leadership development, and higher education, Jenkins is an award-winning scholar and academic administrator.
Prior to arriving at Bates in July 2023, Jenkins served for seven years as dean and William S. Pattee Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School. As the law school’s chief academic and administrative officer, he helped to enhance the school’s overall ranking, academic quality, and the diversity of the student body. The law school’s endowment nearly doubled during his deanship, and he successfully completed the largest fundraising campaign in the school’s history.
Jenkins previously served as the associate dean for academic affairs and John C. Elam/Vorys Sater Professor of Law at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. At Moritz, he co-founded and directed the Program on Law and Leadership, one of the first such programs at a U.S. law school.
Jenkins was also chief operating officer and general counsel of the Goldman Sachs Foundation, whose goal is the betterment of humanity worldwide, focusing on health and education, and a corporate transactional attorney with the New York City–based law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett. He began his professional career with Prudential Financial, Inc. Following law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Timothy K. Lewis at the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Originally from New Jersey, Jenkins received his bachelor’s degree from Haverford College. He earned a master’s degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review.
