Cinnamon Piñon Carlarne Named Next President and Dean of Albany Law School

Cinnamon Piñon Carlarne will be the 19th President and Dean of Albany Law School starting July 1, 2023. 

Currently the Associate Dean for Faculty & Intellectual Life at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, Carlarne was chosen from an outstanding field of candidates identified through a national search. 

Carlarne is an internationally recognized scholar, teacher, and leader finishing off a tenure at one of the top law schools in the nation. 

Dean Cinnamon Carlarne's Curriculum Vitae

“I am confident that she is the right person to lead our institution, especially given Albany Law’s unique position as the oldest independent school of law in the country.  I am also confident that her dynamic vision and commitment to excellence and equity make her well-suited to move Albany Law School forward,” said Deb Treyz, ’77, Chair of the Albany Law School Board of Trustees.

“Albany Law School is a leader in providing inclusive, innovative, and impactful legal education. It has long been at the forefront of educating our next generation of lawyers and leaders and fostering scholarly excellence," said Carlarne. "I am honored to join Albany Law School as its next President and Dean. I look forward to working hand-in-hand with the Albany Law School community to advance the type of equity- and justice-oriented thinking that is critical to ensuring that the rule of law remains a powerful force for good in the world.”

Carlarne is a leading international expert in environmental and climate change law policy with a deep commitment to environmental equity and social justice. Her scholarship focuses on the evolution of domestic and international environmental governance, focusing on questions of domestic and international climate change law. In addition to dozens of scholarly articles addressing environmental and climate change jurisprudence, her work includes a book on comparative climate change law and policy with Oxford University Press; a Foundation Press text on climate law with Dan Farber; the Oxford Handbook of International Climate Change Law; an extensive series of book chapters, editorials and essays exploring questions of domestic and international environmental law; and a textbook on Oceans and Human Health and Well-being. She is on the editorial board for Transnational Environmental Law (Cambridge University Press), the academic board for Climate Law (IOS Press), and was the Co-Chair of the American Society of International Law’s Initiative on Climate Change and International Law. 

Carlarne has served as the Associate Dean for Faculty & Intellectual Life at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law for the past two years. She joined the faculty at Moritz in 2011 and was named the Robert J. Lynn Chair in Law in 2022. She was the Keeley Visiting Fellow at Wadham College, Oxford in 2019. 

In addition to her leadership roles at the College of Law, Carlarne chairs The Ohio State University Research Committee, serves on the Executive Steering Committee for The Ohio State University Sustainability Institute, and The Ohio State University Scholarship Nomination Committee. She also serves on University Taskforces on sustainability and faculty matters and has been deeply involved in numerous other research, climate, and sustainability initiatives at Ohio State. 

“Cinnamon Carlarne’s accomplishments speak to her drive and commitment to addressing the contemporary challenges of sustainability, climate justice, and equity,” Treyz said. “She is particularly well-suited to serve as the next leader of the Albany Law community because of her core values: her student-centered approach to pedagogy in legal education; her interdisciplinary and dynamic perspective on law and social change; her collaborative and inclusive approach to governance and institutional design; and her commitment to recognizing and lifting up underserved and underrepresented communities as an institutional mission.”

Prior to joining the Moritz faculty, Carlarne’s was an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina School of Law from 2008-11. She was the Harold Woods Research Fellow in Environmental Law at Wadham College, Oxford from 2006-08. 

Prior to her career in higher education, she was an associate attorney in the Energy, Land Use, and Environment section at the Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld Law Firm in Washington, D.C. 

Carlarne earned a Bachelor of Arts degree as a University Scholar from Baylor University before going on to earn a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley. She also holds a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) and a master’s degree in environmental change and management from the University of Oxford, where she was a Marshall Scholar.

“I am so pleased that Cinnamon Carlarne joins the Albany Law community at such an important time in the legal profession,” Treyz said. “Her experience as a dynamic leader and scholar will strengthen Albany Law School’s reputation for innovation and public service – and I look forward to working with her and the entire Albany Law community to advance the mission of the law school to be an institution dedicated to equity and excellence.”