Professor Dimitrief, a Global Business Leader and Former General Counsel of GE, Will Teach Corporations and Advise NYLS’s Center for Business and Financial Law
New York, NY (July 30, 2020) – New York Law School (NYLS) Dean Anthony W. Crowell today announced that global business leader Alex Dimitrief will join NYLS this fall as a Senior Fellow and Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law.
As a Senior Fellow, Professor Dimitrief will advise NYLS’s Center for Business and Financial Law, a dynamic hub of scholarship and programming at the forefront of law, business, and technology. As Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law, he will teach Corporations, an upper-level, 4-credit required course.
Professor Dimitrief is an experienced CEO, C-suite leader, general counsel, and Big Law trial lawyer. He is currently a Partner at Zeughauser Group, where he advises leaders of legal departments and law firms and serves as a champion of lawyers and the important roles they play in promoting integrity, civilized discourse, and the rule of law. Previously, he served as President and CEO of General Electric Company’s (GE’s) Global Growth Organization, where he was a key force in driving GE’s international growth across more than 180 countries. He also served as GE’s General Counsel and oversaw more than 5,000 professionals who were responsible for GE’s legal matters, compliance programs, government affairs, and environmental health and safety programs. Before joining GE, Professor Dimitrief was a trial lawyer for 20 years at Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
“Alex Dimitrief is a leader on the world stage, and our students will benefit enormously from his considerable experience building and leading global teams, his business and legal acumen, and his knowledge of the international markets,” said Anthony W. Crowell, NYLS Dean and President. “I am excited that Alex is joining us, and I appreciate his professional values and deep commitment to creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive profession.”
“It’s a privilege to become part of the NYLS community at a time when law schools around the world are revisiting the purpose of corporations and the obligations that companies owe to their customers, employees, suppliers, communities, and governments, as well as their shareholders,” said Alex Dimitrief. “I’m also honored to be teaching students with a proud tradition of using their law degrees to make a significant difference in their communities.”
“Alex Dimitrief’s dynamic background and thought leadership provide significant benefits to NYLS’s Center for Business and Financial Law and to our students pursuing these areas of law,” said Professor Howard Meyers, Director of the Center for Business and Financial Law and Dean of Adjunct Faculty Engagement. “I look forward to working with him in the coming years.”
In addition to his teaching at NYLS, Professor Dimitrief is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, where he teaches “The Corporation as a Citizen.”
Professor Dimitrief is a longtime champion of diversity and inclusion. At GE, he used his global platform to amplify the company’s gender equity and diversity initiatives, including its effort to close the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) positions. For this work, NYLS awarded him an honorary degree at the School’s 2018 Commencement ceremony. He also accepted an award, on behalf of GE, at NYLS’s 2017 Gala, dedicated to “Celebrating Groundbreaking Women in the Law.”
Professor Dimitrief attended Yale College and Harvard Law School, where he served as Managing Editor of the Harvard Law Review.
Building a robust Senior Fellows Program is a key action item outlined in 2020 Strategic Plan: Ever Upward with the purpose of expanding each academic center’s network of successful practitioners.