Two professors at The University of Baltimore School of Law have been appointed to associate dean roles for the 2025-2026 academic year.
Margaret E. Johnson has been named Associate Dean for Faculty Research and Development. In her role, she focuses on supporting and enhancing the research activities of faculty members within the law school. This role involves various responsibilities aimed at fostering a thriving scholarship environment, including facilitating research funding opportunities, providing resources and training for faculty, and promoting the visibility of scholarship.
“We are excited that the Carnegie Foundation has designated The University of Baltimore as one of its ‘Research Colleges and Universities.’ I couldn’t be more honored to support our law faculty’s outstanding scholarship and to highlight its critical impact on law and society,” Johnson says.
Johnson joined the faculty in 2006. Her current research examines legal issues of reproductive justice. She asks questions about how women and other pregnancy-capable individuals are subject to structural and intersectional forms of oppression.
Johnson explored comparative menstruation law and policy as a 2023 Fulbright Scholar at UTS in Sydney, Australia. Her current research examines reproductive freedom, criminalization of pregnant people, and state constitutional law.
In addition, Johnson’s research addresses the use of narrative theory, critical reflection, and normative theory in lawyering for clients. Johnson’s articles have been published in the Wisconsin Law Review, U.C. Davis Law Review, Harvard Journal of Law & Gender, and B.Y.U. Law Review, among others. She is co-author of the book Lawyers, Clients & Narrative: A Framework for Law Students and Practitioners (2nd ed. 2023). Her research has been relied upon and cited by courts, media, and other scholars. In 2020, she received The University of Baltimore School of Law’s award for Outstanding Scholarship by a Full-Time Faculty Member.
Elizabeth Keyes has been named Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. In her role, she provides leadership and oversight for academic programs, curriculum development, faculty support, and student success initiatives within the law school. She works closely with the dean, faculty, and other administrators to enhance the quality of academic offerings and ensure a positive learning experience for students.
“I love UBalt and am thrilled to join the School of Law’s leadership team to keep us strong as we meet the many challenges our world has in store for us,” says Keyes. “I am excited to roll up my sleeves to support Dean Reed and lift up our students and my colleagues.”
Keyes, an expert in immigration and asylum law, joined the UBalt Law faculty in 2012.
She teaches Immigration Law, Professional Responsibility, Introduction to Lawyering
Skills, and Civil Procedure. In all her teaching, she has a passion for deepening
law students' analytical and lawyering skills so that they will thrive in the legal
profession. She also directed UBalt Law's Immigrant Rights Clinic for 10 years.
Her scholarship focuses on the gaps in access to protection for migrants fleeing both
persecution and the effects of climate change, and on the state of lawyering in the
U.S. immigration system.
“I am thrilled about the appointment of Associate Deans Johnson and Keyes,” says UBalt Law Dean LaVonda N. Reed. “Both are exceptional scholars and teachers, whose work has positively impacted the advancement of knowledge and lawyering skills, and both are deeply committed to promoting the work of our faculty, staff, and students.”