Barbara Glesner Fines is the Dean of the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Law, where she has been a member of the faculty since 1986. She served as Executive Associate Dean from 2008 to 2016 and as Interim Dean from January 2017 until she was appointed Dean in June of 2018. Endowed as the Rubey M. Hulen Professor of Law, Glesner Fines received her master of law degree from Yale University and her J.D. (cum laude) from the University of Wisconsin Law School.
Professor Glesner Fines is an expert on professional ethics, family law, and legal education and has authored numerous articles and books on these subjects. She has taught a range of courses from Property and Federal Income Tax to Family Law and Civil Procedure. Her drive to create community-connected legal education has led to the creation of several innovative programs at the School of Law. She helped to found the UMKC School of Law Child and Family Law Program, which is currently ranked as one of the top four programs of its kind in the United States. She is also one of the founding faculty members of the Entrepreneurial Lawyering: Solo & Small Firm Practice Program, which prepares students with critical law practice management skills.
This past year she was instrumental in launching the Self-Help Legal Clinic in collaboration with Legal Aid of Western Missouri. Retired attorneys volunteer in the clinic, working with law students, to provide free brief advice and assistance to members of the public through the Leon E Bloch Law Library at the School of Law. The program has continued through the COVID-19 crisis by shifting to an online delivery of legal services.