D. Carolina Núñez

In her BYU devotional “Loving Our Neighbors,” Dean D. Carolina Núñez shares her insights from years of study and experience with immigration law, undocumented immigrants, and refugees. The cofounder of the J. Reuben Clark Law School’s Refugee and Immigration Initiative, Dean Núñez annually travels with a team of law students to an immigration detention center in southern Texas to help refugees apply for asylum in the United States, prepare for interviews, and draft legal documents. These experiences have left a permanent mark on Dean Núñez and have inspired her to reach out with charity in every aspect of her life.

Dean Núñez joined the BYU faculty in 2008 after serving as a clerk for the Honorable Fortunato P. Benavides and practicing law at Stoel Rives LLP in Salt Lake City. Since joining the BYU faculty, she has served as an associate dean of Research and Academic Affairs and as a professor of law. Because of her efforts to provide opportunities and experience in the legal field for her students, she was awarded the Professor of the Year Award in 2017.

Since graduating summa cum laude from the BYU Law School and serving as the managing editor of the BYU Law Review, Dean Núñez has published articles in the Southern California Law Review, Wisconsin Law Review, and Utah Law Review. She sits on the governing board of the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion, is a member of the Association of American Law Schools Committee for the Recruitment and Retention of Minority Law Teachers and Students, and has been appointed a member of the Utah Advisory Committee for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Dean Núñez is also a member of the founding governing board for the Utah Chapter of the U.S. National Committee for the UN Women, which links Utah to international efforts to provide social, political, and economic equality for women and girls.