LOS ANGELES — Former U.S. Solicitor General Kenneth Starr is leaving his position as dean of Pepperdine University law school to become president of Baylor University, both schools announced Monday.
Starr, who investigated President Bill Clinton during the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky scandals and represented the backers of California's Proposition 8 ban on gay marriage during its state constitutional challenge last year, has been dean of the law school in Malibu, Calif., for five years.
A Texas native, Starr will become the 14th president of Baylor, a nationally ranked Christian university in Waco, Texas. With the announcement of Starr's appointment effective June 1, Pepperdine President Andrew K. Benton announced the launch of a nationwide search for a new law school dean.
"Ken has had a tremendous impact on our students, the law school and the Pepperdine community at large," said Benton.
"His leadership, his love of scholarship and his devotion to our students helped raise the national stature of our school and we will benefit from the good he accomplished here for many years to come." Starr was not immediately available for comment.