Erwin Chemerinsky

Law Dean, constitutional expert

It looks like Chemerinsky really is pulling off the creation of a top-20 law school where no law school stood before - the University of California, Irvine.

The year-old law school's students, 60 from last year and 84 who started last month, boast stellar GPAs, test scores and backgrounds. Despite budget caps and mandatory furlough days, Chemerinsky added seven professors, six classrooms and a moot courtroom, with more to come.

"It's beginning to really feel like a law school," he says.

The faculty, by the way, ranks ninth nationally in scholarly impact, based on citations to writings. Much of that impact, of course, lies with Chemerinsky himself, who continues to turn out scholarly articles and newspaper opinion pieces faster than most people can read them. This month, he also publishes his first popular-press book, "The Conservative Assault on the Constitution," from Simon & Schuster.