Presidential communication

Letter from the President

Office of the President, president@uidaho.edu | Oct. 2, 2026

Dear Vandals,

As Brian Kane made his way north on scenic Highway 95 toward Moscow in July, memories from more than 30 years ago flooded back to him. Fresh out of the Army in 1993, Kane drove two straight days from Texas to Moscow, arriving just in time for the first day of the fall semester.

“When I stepped on campus it felt like I was home,” Kane said of his first time at the University of Idaho campus. “I loved the whole U of I experience — football games, fraternity life, I co-chaired the homecoming bonfire committee, I was involved in student government. I am an all-in Vandal.”

Kane is back on campus as dean of the College of Law. He brings two decades of experience as chief deputy attorney general for the Idaho Office of the Attorney General, along with nine years as an adjunct faculty member for the U of I. He never envisioned leading Idaho’s only law school, but his experience and relationships in the state give him a strong base to build from.

“I thought about how I can support the university that gave me an opportunity, and this is a role that helps lay the foundation both for our students and our legal system,” Kane said.

The College of Law fielded more than 800 applications before welcoming over 220 new students this fall, putting total enrollment at more than 550. Barely a month into the Fall 2027 admissions cycle, the college has nearly 100 applicants, as it works long-term to address Idaho’s shortage of legal professionals. One of Kane’s main goals is to exemplify the U of I’s land-grant mission by serving every corner of the state through the college’s clinics and pro-bono programs.

“There are a lot of attorneys in Boise, but not many in the rural areas, and as Idaho’s land-grant university, we have a responsibility to those areas,” Kane said. “The college makes its way out to all parts of the state.”

The relationship works both ways: The university serves the state, and the state brings its needs to the university. Kane has spent his career in the middle of that conversation — working with the legislature, cities, counties and state agencies, listening to what they need. He is now considering how a law school can help meet the legal needs of an increasingly complex Idaho.

His years in the attorney general’s office gave him an unusually complete map of Idaho’s legal life. He sat across the table from the people who draft the state’s laws, those who enforce them, the local governments that live under them and the citizens impacted by it all.

Kane is quick to point out that a deanship is still a new job and it begins with listening.

“Whenever you come into a new role, you get to know the people, the institution and the geography,” he said. “It’s about getting out and meeting everyone.”

Over the past two months, Kane has met with university administrators and fellow deans. He spent time with the employees and students in the College of Law — understanding what they do.

The aim is not to arrive with a blueprint. It is to find out, first, where the college is headed and what its people need to get there.

One of Kane’s earliest goals is to talk to the people already doing the work well. That includes the alumni network — graduates who have gone out across Idaho and into practice, government and the bench. Kane is approaching the deanship the same way he approached a courtroom case: identify the needs of the client, listen deeply to understand, outline alternatives and then continue to improve potential outcomes.

For Idaho’s land-grant institution, whose graduates go on to serve a state that stretches from the Bitterroot Mountains to the Snake River Plain, that is exactly the right way to begin.

Go Vandals!

C. Scott Green
President

Snapshots

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Learn more about Cuddy’s painting.

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Learn more about 4-H projects.

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Learn more about the HARVEST program.

Did you know?

Longtime UI Extension educator Randall Brooks recently started his new role as associate dean of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and director of UI Extension.