Bartlett has hired 17 new faculty members during her tenure, recruiting top scholars of national and international renown as well as rising stars in strategic areas relating to science and technology, international and comparative law, constitutional law, national security, and business and finance. Building on the expertise of an already distinguished and diverse faculty, the consolidation of the Law School’s strength in these areas is reflected in curricular depth, enhancement of opportunities for faculty-student collaboration in scholarship and advocacy, interdisciplinary collaborations across the University, the strengthening of existing centers and programs such as the Program in Public Law and the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security, and the establishment of new ones, such as the Center for the Study of the Public Domain and the Center for International and Comparative Law, which all regularly sponsor high-level academic conferences, workshops, and speakers.

“The concept of ‘cluster hires’ – pockets of expertise – was Kate’s vision when she chaired the Appointments Committee, even before she became dean,” observes Jim Cox, Brainerd Currie Professor of Law, who chaired that committee under Dean Bartlett. “As dean she was a great proponent of this approach, and we set the bar very high for faculty appointments, with obvious success.” Those recruited – six in 2004 alone – uniformly cite Duke’s reputation for academic excellence, community, and “Kate” as reasons for accepting the offers.

Erwin Chemerinsky, one of the country’s leading and most visible scholars of constitutional law and the federal courts, and also an active appellate advocate, is one of the star hires that Chief Justice Durham singles out. Catherine Fisk, a legal historian and expert in employment discrimination, is another. Fisk and Chemerinsky, who are married, give Bartlett full credit for luring them from the University of Southern California, even after they had turned down offers from Duke after visiting for the Fall 2002 semester.

“We had chosen to stay in L.A.,” Chemerinsky recalls. “But in January 2004 Kate called each of us separately, asking if we wanted to rethink our decision. It was entirely her doing that we’re here.” Chemerinsky, who holds the Alston & Bird chair, calls Bartlett “a wonderful dean” in the way she encourages faculty. “Kate has been supportive of everything I’ve done, both in terms of tangible support and in terms of being a cheerleader for the things I do. She’s a wonderful dean for nurturing and encouraging the faculty.”

“Kate’s a real leader in making Duke a community that really treasures its members,” adds Fisk. “She is exceptional in making people feel appreciated – she could not have done more to make me feel a valued colleague. She recognizes individual strengths, and creates opportunities for all of us to develop as teachers, scholars, and in University governance.” Fisk notes that, on Bartlett’s recommendation, she is chairing Duke’s Academic Programs Committee, which reviews all programs and departments in the University.

Curtis Bradley, Richard and Marcy Horvitz Professor of Law and founding director of the Center for International and Comparative Law, also credits Bartlett’s interpersonal skills for his decision to leave the University of Virginia School of Law in 2005. “She patiently recruited both me and my wife Kathy [director of Legal Ethics and the administrator for the Capstone Project and Domestic Externship programs] for two years, and was extremely attentive to each of our individual needs,” says Bradley, an expert in U.S. foreign relations law and international law. “During part of this time, I was working at the State Department in Washington, D.C., and it left a deep impression on me when Kate made a special point of coming to see me there, just to touch base and show me the plans for the new wing of the building. Through the entire process, she conveyed genuine warmth and enthusiasm, and she did everything that she could to make us feel at home at Duke.”

One of Bartlett’s key achievements has been to preserve a cherished sense of collegiality among the faculty while greatly increasing its size. “She has managed to transform the School in really positive ways, and yet keep the human quality, the sense of proportion, and the lack of arrogance that attracted me to it in the first place,” says James Boyle, William Neal Reynolds Professor of Law and a leading scholar of intellectual property law, who joined the faculty in 2001 and founded the Center for the Study of the Public Domain the following year.

Faculty members repeatedly cite Bartlett’s superb judgment, straightforward manner, and ability to broker consensus. “She came in with an understanding of the institutional culture and how she could work within that culture to effectively change the School’s direction,” observes Cox, a faculty member since the 1970s. “She is by nature an individual who works best as a consensus builder, but in her quiet ways she is able to move that consensus by whom she puts in important or visible leadership roles. She is also eclectic in her understanding of legal scholarship and teaching, and has a broad vision about how people can make different contributions, even though they don’t always agree with one another.” Her support of fundamental, highly visible scholarship and faculty engagement in issues of public concern and national regulatory movements is also key, Cox adds.

“I think most people would say, ‘She has been a great dean for me,’” says Sara Beale, Charles L.B. Lowndes Professor of Law. “One of the questions she asks during your annual review is, ‘What do you need in order to be even more successful?’ She believes in encouraging people to set their sights high, and then helping them get there.”