Shane Cooper JD ‘03 is the Senior Associate Dean for Admissions, Financial Aid and Student Services. In this role, he leads JD recruitment efforts and efforts to retain and support the current student body. He also provides strategic direction to the Dean of Students staff on all aspects of counseling and student case management, serves as the primary point of contact for the faculty Administrative Committee, and is the officer of record for character and fitness certification to bar authorities. He previously served as Associate Dean for Administration and Enrollment at the University of New Hampshire School of Law, overseeing admissions, enrollment management, and administrative activities.

Prior to working in higher education, Shane served in the Navy for 26 years as a submarine officer and Navy judge advocate. He qualified as a submarine warfare and nuclear engineer officer aboard the USS Connecticut (SSN 22) where he served from 1996 to 2000. He then entered the Navy’s Law Education Program and graduated from Cornell Law School in 2003. He also earned a Master of Laws degree from Columbia Law School in 2012. As a judge advocate, he served in a variety of roles including as a prosecutor, Special Assistant to the United States Attorney, Rule of Law Advisor in Iraq, and in-house chief counsel to several naval commanders including the Commander of United States Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. In his final active-duty assignment, he served as the lead for the Navy’s legal education and training program responsible for the training of all Coast Guard, Navy, and Marine Corps commanders, judge advocates and paralegals concerning the administration of military justice and law.

Shane currently serves in a variety of volunteer leadership roles. He is a member of the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) Pipeline Initiatives Working Group, a participant in the LSAC Plus Scholars Program, President and Founding Member of Veterans Legal Justice New Hampshire, and President of the Naval Justice School Foundation.