Terence Lau L’98

Dean
Professor of Law

(315) 443-9580
deanlau@syr.edu

Terence J. Lau was appointed the 13th Dean of the Syracuse University College of Law in 2024. He leads the College, which offers one of the nation’s first ABA-accredited hybrid online J.D. programs through JDinteractive, and serves as a Professor of Law.
 
Lau graduated from Syracuse Law in 1998 and began practicing in Detroit, Michigan, in the Office of the General Counsel at Ford Motor Company in the International Trade and Transactions practice group. His practice focused on three primary areas: distribution, mergers & acquisitions, and compliance with U.S. law for foreign affiliates and subsidiaries. After three years in this role, he was transferred to Bangkok, Thailand, where he served as Ford’s Director for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Government Affairs, responsible for all government affairs matters in the 10-country group of Southeast Asian nations.
 
In 2002, he started his academic career at the School of Business Administration at the University of Dayton in Ohio. He was tenured as a business law Associate Professor in 2006 and then took a year’s leave to serve as a Supreme Court Fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States in the Office of the Chief Justice. After serving as Professor and Associate Dean, he was then appointed Director of Faculty Affairs and Corporate Engagement at the University of Dayton China Institute in Suzhou, China, in 2016. In 2018, Lau was appointed Dean of the College of Business at California State University, Chico (CSU Chico), where he helped launch the College’s first fully online MBA program. In 2023, interim Dean of the College of Engineering, Computer Science, and Construction Management. In July 2023, he served as Interim Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at CSU Chico before making the move back to Syracuse in 2024.
 
Lau has taught a variety of undergraduate, MBA, and J.D.-level courses in his career including new venture creation and entrepreneurship. He is the author of The Legal and Ethical Environment of Business, now in its Fifth Edition and has been adopted by over 200 universities and colleges. His research focuses on corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, and automotive distribution, and has appeared in Nevada Law Journal, DePaul Law Review, American Business Law Journal, University of Dayton Law Review, and William and Mary Journal of Women & The Law. He is the former Editor-in-Chief of The American Business Law Journal.
 
Lau is a former member of the Syracuse University College of Law Board of Advisors, a former Board of Directors member of Mikesells in Dayton, Ohio, and a former Board of Directors member of Capital Public Radio in Sacramento, California. He is admitted to practice in Michigan and the Supreme Court of the United States.