Main law school entrance to Penn State's Lewis Katz Building
Located on Penn State's University Park campus, Lewis Katz Building in University Park is home to both the Law School and the School of International Affairs. Dedicated in 2010, the building is LEED-certified and contains a number of "green" features such as a vegetated green roof, bike racks, abundant use of natural light, and locally sourced materials.
The Lewis Katz Building was constructed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification requirements. "Reflecting the goals of the Dickinson School of Law, the Lewis Katz Building uses numerous sustainable initiatives within its design," said Olcott. "From its continuous planted green roof to its reintroduction of pervious surfaces on what was a massive parking lot, the building helps reduce the amount of rainwater runoff generated by the site."
Olcott added that the building is designed to maximize the use of natural light and that most individual offices are equipped with operable windows and climate control, further reducing the building's energy consumption. Local and recycled materials are used throughout the building.
Founded by Judge John Reed, the Dickinson School of Law is the oldest law school in Pennsylvania and the fifth oldest in the nation. Over the course of its distinguished 175-year history, its graduates have included three U.S. senators, including the first U.S. senator from Oregon; five governors, including Minnesota's Civil War governor; the first secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; the first woman to serve as chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania; more than 100 federal and state judges, including recent appointees to U.S. District Courts in Pennsylvania and to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; the founder of one of the nation's leading law firms led by African-Americans; the first woman president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association; the first elected attorney general of Pennsylvania; and the owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team.
The law school completed a merger with Penn State in 2000 and currently operates from University Park and Carlisle as the only ABA-approved unified two-location law school. Since affiliating with the University and adding a law school presence to its University Park campus in 2006, the law school has been successful in recruiting leading faculty scholars and the most highly qualified and diverse student body in the school's history. Applications to the law school this year topped 4,100; a marked increase from statistics as recent as 2003, when 1,471 students applied for admission to the school.
Renovation of the law school's Carlisle facility, which includes the addition of Lewis Katz Hall, is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The law school will host a dedication ceremony for its Carlisle facility in April 2010.