Browne C. Lewis

Browne Cornell Lewis (c. 1962 – June 3, 2022)[1] was a legal scholar who served as dean of the University of North Carolina School of Law from 2020 to 2022.[2]

Born in Natchez, Louisiana,[1] Lewis was "one of 12 children from a family in a small country town".[2] She received a bachelor's degree in political science from Grambling State University, followed by a master's degree in public policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota,[1] and then a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1988, followed by an LL.M. in energy and environmental law from the University of Houston Law Center in 1997.[3] In 2013, she published the book, Papa's Baby: Paternity and Artificial Insemination.[1] She taught at the Cleveland–Marshall College of Law prior to becoming dean at the University of North Carolina.[3]

Lewis led North Carolina Central University School of Law through it reaccreditation process with the American Bar Association in 2020.[2] In 2021, she was instrumental in obtaining a $5 million grant from Intel for the school in support of the development of a technology and policy center.[2]

Lewis died in Colorado at the age of 60, while attending the annual conference of the Law School Admission Council, of which she was a member.[2]