Michael T. Colatrella Jr. once dreamed of a life on stage, not in a courtroom. College "wasn't part of the conversation" for the New Jersey native, whose family owned a small beauty parlor.

"I actually wanted to be an actor, so I spent a couple of years doing that," he said. 

Friends he met at an acting gig one summer — students at Yale and Stanford — convinced him to give college a chance, where a law and society class soon ignited his interest in a legal career. 

Now, Colatrella is helping students navigate law school as the new dean of McGeorge School of Law. Colatrella stepped into the role on July 1 after former dean Michael Hunter Schwartz returned to the faculty to teach.

As the new dean, Colatrella is focused on three priorities: raising bar exam pass rates, improving job placement and elevating McGeorge's national profile.

"The higher ranked we are, the more students we attract and the higher credential students we attract," Colatrella said. "That impacts our budget, which means we can do more things. We can be more innovative in the programs we offer and consider adding new clinics students and faculty would like to see."

Equally important to him is supporting McGeorge's large population of first-generation students like himself. "That's a point of pride for the faculty here because you don't just change their lives-you're changing generations."

But beyond rankings and outcomes, what motivates him most is the classroom-and its impact on all students. 

"As the semester progresses, you can see their minds opening up," he said. "As a lawyer, you learn to think differently. You see problems differently. Watching that transformation is so exciting."

Favorite things

• Movie: "The Best Years of Our Lives." It's a 1946 film about three people coming home from World War Il and their struggles in trying to readapt to their lives.
• Favorite Food: I'm a meat and potatoes sort of person, so shepherd's pie is one I like to make a lot.
• Book: "David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens
• TV Show: "The Mentalist"
• Hobby or Interest:  I paint and sing. I also like hiking because this is a beautiful place to hike.