Vincent D. Rougeau

 Vincent D. Rougeau, a nationally respected expert in legal education and Catholic social thought, became the 33rd president of Holy Cross in July 2021. 

He previously served as dean of the Boston College Law School and the inaugural director of the new Boston College Forum on Racial Justice in America, a meeting place for listening, dialogue, and greater understanding about race and racism in America. Prior to his role at Boston College, Rougeau was a tenured professor of law at Notre Dame Law School, and served as their associate dean for Academic Affairs from 1999-2002. 

Rougeau has written extensively on law and religions with a particular focus on Catholic social teaching and the law. His book “Christians in the American Empire: Faith and Citizenship in the New World Order” was released by Oxford University Press in 2008. His current research and writing consider the relationships among religious identity, citizenship, and membership in highly mobile and increasingly multicultural democratic societies. He serves as senior fellow at the Centre for Theology and Community (CTC) in London, where he researches broad-based community organizing, immigration, and citizenship in the UK as part of the Just Communities Project.

A vocal advocate for change in legal education, Rougeau writes and speaks extensively on legal education reform. He currently serves as president of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). He previously served as a member of the Executive Committee of AALS, and as chair of the AALS Deans Steering Committee. He has also served on the Council of the Boston Bar Association. 

Rougeau received his A.B. magna cum laude from Brown University in 1985, and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1988, where he served as articles editor of the Harvard Human Rights Journal.