The Baldy Center Directors

Dear Colleagues,
Please join us in congratulating Samantha Barbas on her new faculty position at the University of Iowa School of Law. The Baldy Center, our team, and interdisciplinary legal scholarship has benefited from her exceptional, thoughtful, and steadfast leadership over the last five years. Under her leadership, The Baldy Center thrived in advancing interdisciplinary legal scholarship by hosting national and international guest speakers, supporting postdoctoral and senior/mid-career fellowships, funding faculty and graduate student research grants, funding faculty conference grants, co-sponsoring events across the University at Buffalo, expanding event attendance through hybrid options, and expanding our multimedia presence with our blog and podcast, all of which continued during a global pandemic. 

Samantha has modeled servant-leadership through her active listening to Baldy Center staff, the law school community, and the greater university community, as well as through her empathetic and humble stewardship, her passion for supporting research, and her commitment to upholding The Baldy Center mission. Samantha’s outstanding scholarship, including the publication of two booksActual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom of the Press in New York Times v. Sullivan (UC Press, 2023) and The Rise and Fall of Morris Ernst: Free Speech Renegade (University of Chicago Press, May 2021) while director, serves as inspiration and demonstration of The Baldy Center’s commitment to advancing interdisciplinary legal research. We are thankful for her dedication, quiet strength, thoughtful and considerate voice, and unwavering leadership that will be greatly missed. We wish her all the best success in her new adventure!

As Samantha moves on, we welcome Matthew Dimick, Professor in the School of Law, as The Baldy Center’s new director. Matt has served on The Baldy Center Advisory Council since 2018 and brings with him his knowledge of and experience with The Baldy Center’s operations and mission as well as many years of experience in interdisciplinary research and scholarship. He is well regarded by local and national media as a faculty expert in the area of law and economics and is often asked to provide commentary on issues including economic inequality, tax and welfare policy, and employment and labor law. We are looking forward to working with him in this new capacity. Read more about him here.

Again, please join us in congratulating and thanking Samantha, and congratulating and welcoming Matt!

With sincere appreciation,

Amanda Benzin, Associate Director
The Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy