NEW YORK, May 15, 2007 — Pace University announced today that its president, David A. Caputo, will retire from the presidency on June 3rd. The Pace board of trustees has appointed Stephen J. Friedman, dean of the Pace University School of Law, to the position of president.

“We are deeply grateful for Dr. Caputo’s seven years of achievements and devoted service to Pace,” said Aniello A. Bianco, chairman of Pace’s board of trustees. “Dr. Caputo’s leadership during and after the 9/11 terrorist attack was important in Pace’s recovery and the university’s subsequent leadership in the rebuilding of lower Manhattan. During his tenure, Pace’s academic excellence has gained increased recognition, evidenced in part by the large number of Pace students who have been named Fulbright Scholars and who have received Rockefeller fellowships and Watson scholarships. In addition, under his leadership, Pace successfully launched its new $100 million capital campaign. Dr. Caputo is planning to return to Pace as a full-time faculty member after a year-long sabbatical. We wish Dr. Caputo well as he resumes his scholarly pursuits. At the same time, we are delighted that a leader of Dean Friedman’s stature has agreed to assume the helm of the university. During his tenure as dean, the Pace School of Law has shown marked improvements in admissions, bar passage results, and job placements in law firm and judicial clerkships. The law faculty has also engaged in significant curricular reform.”

“I appreciate the support of the Pace trustees, faculty, students, alumni and staff over the past seven years,” said Dr. Caputo. “I look forward to spending more time with my family and on a variety of personal interests.”

Dean Friedman said, “I look forward to working with the trustees, faculty, students and administration to lead the process of change and growth at Pace.”

Dean Friedman, who has been dean and professor of law at Pace since 2004, has served as commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for capital markets policy, partner of Debevoise & Plimpton, and executive vice president and general counsel of both The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and The E.F. Hutton Group. He is a magna cum laude graduate of the Harvard Law School, where he was editor of the Harvard Law Review, and a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University. He served as law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.

Dean Friedman currently serves as a trustee and is the former president of the nonprofit Practising Law Institute, the largest provider of continuing legal education in the U.S., as a director of NYSE Regulation and as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a former director of the National Association of Securities Dealers, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Refco, Inc. and Conrail.

Mr. Bianco said the board of trustees would work closely with Dean Friedman to deal with current opportunities and issues facing the university before moving to name a permanent successor to Dr. Caputo.

Founded in 1976, Pace University School of Law has nearly 6,500 alumni/ae throughout the country. It offers full- and part-time day and evening JD programs on its White Plains, NY campus. The School also offers the Master of Laws in Environmental Law and in Comparative Legal Studies. The School, which has one of the nation's top-rated environmental law programs, also offers the SJD program in that field. The School of Law is part of a comprehensive, independent, and diversified University with campuses in New York City and Westchester County. www.law.pace.edu. 

For more than 100 years Pace University has been preparing students to become leaders in their fields by providing an education that combines exceptional academics with professional experience and the New York advantage. Pace has three campuses, in New York City, Westchester, and White Plains. A private metropolitan university, Pace enrolls nearly 13,500 students in bachelors, masters, and doctoral programs in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lienhard School of Nursing, Lubin School of Business, School of Education, School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems.  www.pace.edu