Timothy G. Lynch has been named Stanford’s new vice president and general counsel. He joins Stanford from the University of Michigan, where he currently serves as vice president and general counsel. He will begin his tenure on Aug. 31.
“Stanford is such a truly unique, special place,” Lynch said. “I’m deeply excited to support what Stanford represents – a community where there’s an expectation of excellence and a deep faith that people really can change the world for the better.”
At Stanford, Lynch will lead the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), which provides legal counsel across Stanford’s entities. Reporting to the president, Lynch will serve as principal legal counselor and a key strategic advisor to the president, provost, and Board of Trustees.
“Tim brings deep knowledge of the national landscape and a sophisticated understanding of universities and their distinctive mission,” said Stanford President Jonathan Levin. “He’ll be a tremendous asset to Stanford. His intellect and collaborative, problem-solving approach are exactly what the moment calls for, and I look forward to working alongside him.”
Lynch succeeds Debra Zumwalt, who announced earlier this year that she would retire after 26 years as Stanford’s vice president and general counsel.
“I am delighted that Tim Lynch will be the next Stanford general counsel,” Zumwalt said. “Tim is an excellent attorney and leader. At Michigan, he has dealt with many of the same university and healthcare issues that we have at Stanford and will hit the ground running.”
A committee co-chaired by Provost Jenny Martinez and Jay Mitchell, professor emeritus of law, conducted the search for Zumwalt’s successor.
“We sought someone who could quickly become a trusted advisor to university leaders, a lawyer of unquestioned integrity, judgment, intellectual breadth, and deep commitment to academic values,” Mitchell said. “We were looking for an individual who could engage collaboratively with faculty and other community members, who had a balanced approach to risk, and who had proven ability to lead the legal function in an organization of meaningful scale and scope.”
Martinez said Lynch stood out as someone who exemplifies the role of general counsel – “a lawyer who understands the institution and can provide wise counsel to help navigate legal issues while keeping the mission of the university front and center.”
As general counsel, Lynch will advise university governance bodies and senior leadership on a wide range of legal issues. He will work with university leadership and the Office of Government Affairs to navigate evolving policy and regulatory landscapes, as well as advise the university on compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
“My priority working with my new colleagues will be to make sure we are all doing our very best every day to support the extraordinary faculty, staff, students, and leadership at Stanford, and have that be our north star,” Lynch said.
A wealth of experience
Lynch brings more than 13 years of experience serving as general counsel of a major research university. At the University of Michigan, Lynch became deeply versed in the legal dimensions of research, student and faculty affairs, major conference athletics, campus climate, governance, academic medicine, and other areas central to university legal support.
“The breadth and diversity of work that comes to a general counsel’s office at a research-intensive university like Michigan or Stanford is unsurpassed and often at the cutting edge,” Lynch said. “Stanford is in the business of transformation – transforming the lives of students, patients, and the world at large. Our job as lawyers is to support the members of the university community as they achieve their mission and life-changing goals.”
At the University of Michigan, Lynch developed a large, well-respected legal office and served as a key advisor to the university’s president and board of regents.
“I’ve loved supporting and learning from the amazing lawyers, paralegals, legal assistants, and law clerks we have, and everyone has made a tremendous difference in Michigan,” Lynch said. “I really look forward to working with talented, dedicated new colleagues in the Office of General Counsel at Stanford.”
Lynch said he is particularly proud of the work he and his team at the University of Michigan have done supporting civil discourse and diversity of thought, and he looks forward to continuing that work.
“When I see what Jon, Jenny, and faculty have done on these incredibly important issues at Stanford, I’m thrilled to be part of that,” he said. “I’m very happy to go to a place that not only values these fundamental principles but is a leader in academia.”
Lynch previously worked in the U.S. Department of Energy, where he was acting general counsel and deputy general counsel for litigation and enforcement. He served for seven years as an assistant United States attorney for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, where he was a senior prosecutor in the fraud and public corruption section.
Lynch was also an attorney at the Washington, D.C., law firm Shea & Gardner and clerked in Detroit for Judge Cornelia G. Kennedy of the United States Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.
Lynch earned his law degree from Georgetown, where he was editor-in-chief of the Georgetown Law Journal, and he earned his Bachelor of Arts in English and economics from the University of Rochester.
Lynch has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan Law School, where he has taught a seminar on internal investigations. He also served as a lecturer at the University of Virginia Law School and as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
Lynch recently concluded his term as chair of the board of directors for the National Association of College and University Attorneys. He previously served as chair of the general counsels committee for the Association of American Universities and was a member of the board of directors for the University Musical Society.
Before becoming a lawyer, Lynch explored the possibility of becoming a jazz pianist, spending time at the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music. He has a lifelong appreciation of the performance arts and said he’s excited to attend concerts at Bing Concert Hall this fall. He also looks forward to finding a karate dojo in Palo Alto, having just received his third-degree black belt. “I really love to teach,” Lynch said. “I teach at the law school and I’ve also been teaching karate, so I’ll have to find a way to continue that at Stanford.”
The Stanford campus is not entirely new for Lynch; his son attended Stanford. As he settles into the position, Lynch said he is eager to listen and learn from people across the entire Stanford community.
“I can’t wait to spend time walking the campus, meeting people, learning what excites them, what gives them joy and, especially, what OGC can do to help them,” Lynch said.
Writer
Chelcey Adami
