Cindy Kirby Named Assistant Dean for Student Affairs
by Margaret Beccavin | December 1, 2022
Cindy Kirby ‘92 has been named the assistant dean for student affairs at The University of Toledo College of Law beginning Monday, Dec. 5. As assistant dean, Kirby will oversee a variety of programs and services to enrich the overall student experience at Toledo Law. Services and programs she will coordinate include academic, professional and personal development, student organizations, character and fitness disclosures, student well-being, and advisor to the Student Bar Association.
“I’m excited about joining the College of Law family,” said Kirby. “I hope that the students will drop by my office to get acquainted and that they will feel comfortable working with me to solve whatever problems arise during their time here.”
Kirby is a Toledo Law alum and has practiced law in the Toledo area for over thirty years, concentrating in family law. In 2016 she formed the law firm of Kirby & Kirby, Ltd. with Michael Kirby, and continued to practice family law until November 2022. She is a strong supporter of LGBTQ+ rights and legal issues and has represented members of the LGBTQ+ community in family law cases across the state. She has given statewide presentations to Domestic Relations and Juvenile Court judges and magistrates on LGBTQ+ family law issues for the Ohio Supreme Court Judicial College. This semester, she is teaching the seminar No Straight Answers: Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation and the Law at Toledo Law.
In addition to taking on her role as assistant dean for student affairs, she is also the current President-Elect for the Toledo Bar Association, which she has been actively involved in for years and has served as chairperson of numerous committees in the past. She will serve as President of the Board of Trustees from July 2023 through June 2024. Kirby has also served as a mentor to a new lawyer for the Supreme Court of Ohio every year that the program has been in existence.
In 2006, the Access to Justice Committee honored Kirby with the prestigious Public Interest Law Award. She was awarded the Order of the Heel in May 2015 by the Toledo Junior Bar Association. In June of 2021 Kirby was honored with the Jean Crowe Pro Bono Award by the American Bar Association’s Family Law Section.
Kirby earned her B.A. in Psychology, Magna Cum Laude, in 1980 from The University of Toledo and her Juris Doctor, Cum Laude, in May 1992 from Toledo Law, where she was a member of the Law Review and President of the Legal Ethics Association.