CUNY School of Law Dean Sudha Setty was recently featured on CUNY TV’s Asian American Life as part of a special Women’s History Month episode, Celebrating Women Trailblazers. In the interview, she reflects on her groundbreaking journey in the legal profession and the importance of representation in leadership.
When Setty first set out to become a lawyer, academia wasn’t part of her plan. “Moving into academia is frankly not something I even thought about in law school,” she shares. “I don’t think I really knew that was an option.” She initially pursued a traditional legal career, working as a litigator in private practice. But through mentorship and repeated conversations with colleagues, she began to see academia as not just an opportunity—but a place where she could make a lasting impact.
“Sometimes it takes repeated conversations, maybe from different sources,” she explains. “Maybe you need to hear from two or three different people, because it takes a while to sink in that that’s not only something you might want to do, but something that you can do.”
In 2018, she became the first South Asian woman in the country to serve as a dean at an ABA-accredited law school, leading Western New England University School of Law. Then, in 2022, she made history again as the first person of South Asian descent to lead a CUNY school when she was appointed dean of CUNY School of Law.
Setty’s journey is deeply connected to CUNY Law’s mission: increasing access to the legal profession and ensuring that future lawyers reflect the communities they serve. “An overwhelming number of our students go into public interest service work,” she says. “They stand with New Yorkers—and people around the country and the world—during some of the hardest moments of their lives, whether it’s housing security, family placements, or other urgent needs. That mission resonated with me.”
As one of the few Asian Americans in legal academia’s top leadership roles, Setty understands both the responsibility and the power of representation. “You don’t want to burden people who take leadership positions by suggesting they have to take on an entire body of work in addition to their actual job,” she notes. “But of course, that comes with it. And it’s both work and an opportunity. There’s something really powerful about seeing people who look like you in positions of authority, in positions of power.”
A recent study by the American Bar Foundation and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association found that while the percentage of Asian Americans represented in the legal field is increasing, representation at the highest levels of the legal profession falls short—from law firms to the judiciary. Setty’s career is a testament to the importance of creating pathways for future leaders and ensuring that legal education reflects the diversity of the communities it serves.
Watch the full interview on CUNY TV’s Asian American Life and celebrate the stories of women trailblazers