The University of Hawaii announced today that Aviam “Avi” Soifer, dean of the William S. Richardson School of Law, will retire after 16 years in his leadership position. Soifer will remain in the dean’s post during the search for his replacement, and will continue to teach constitutional law.

“Our law school is in a very good place, and I believe that I am handing it off at the right time,” Soifer said in a news release. “Someone else will bring fresh ideas and a new perspective to our school, where our faculty and staff are really the ones who have maintained and shaped our many successes.”

Soifer led the law school at UH Manoa through two successful reaccreditations and a major facility expansion that included the additional of a $7.3 million Clinical Building.

During his tenure at UH, the law school added an evening, part-time program; established Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law; added mini-courses before the beginning of the spring semester taught by distinguished visiting scholars, professors and judges; and offered a number of joint degrees and multidisciplinary UH programs.

“We all owe Avi Soifer a deep debt of gratitude for leading Hawaii’s law school with vision, dignity and a steady hand over the past 16 years,” UH President David Lassner said in a statement. “He has brought national recognition to one of the best community-centric law schools in the country, and while we will miss Avi in his leadership role, we are delighted that he intends to teach constitutional law to the continued benefit of our students and the community.”

Soifer, a 1972 graduate of Yale Law School, previously served as dean and professor at Boston College Law School in Massachusetts. He is married to award-winning documentary filmmaker and UH Manoa Academy for Creative Media instructor Marlene Booth.