Kellye Y. Testy

Kellye Y. Testy is the president and chief executive officer of the Law School Admission Council, a global nonprofit organization that encourages diverse, talented individuals to study law and supports their enrollment and learning journeys from prelaw through practice. LSAC also develops and supports the technology products that enable schools and candidates to connect with one another in the admission process.

Prior to leading LSAC, Testy served as a law school dean and faculty member for 25 years, including as the first woman dean at the University of Washington School of Law (2009-17). During her tenure, she established the endowed Toni Rembe deanship, launched the Barer and Gregoire Fellows programs, and delivered the largest gift in the school’s history: a $56 million bequest from alumnus Jack McDonald for student scholarships and faculty and program support. Testy also served as dean at Seattle University School of Law (2004-09), where she founded the Access to Justice Institute, the Korematsu Center for Law and Equality, and other key programs.

Always a teacher first, Testy continues to offer courses at several law schools in her areas of specialty, including business law and leadership development. Testy has been recognized numerous times as an innovator in education and technology and as one of the nation’s most influential leaders consistently advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion in legal education. She especially enjoys working with law school deans to support their leadership and help advance their school’s mission and goals.

An expert in corporate governance, Testy serves on several boards, both corporate and nonprofit, and conducts trainings for boards to help them meet their fiduciary duties and add value to the organizations they serve. Testy is a member of the American Law Institute and has served on the Board of Governors of the Society of American Law Teachers as well as on several committees and initiatives of the ABA Section on Legal Education. She currently serves on the boards of the Washington Law Institute, a leadership development program designed to promote diversity in the legal profession, and LSSSE, a research institute focused on understanding legal education from the student perspective. In 2016, she served as president of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). She served on the AALS Executive Committee from 2013 to 2017, co-chaired the AALS Section for the Law School Dean, and served on the Committee on Recruitment and Retention of Minority Law Teachers and Students.

Testy is a nationally sought-after speaker, panelist, and consultant on legal and higher education, leadership, diversity and access, and corporate law and governance. Recent 2021 speaking engagements include the LSAC Newcomers Workshop; ABA New Deans Virtual Workshop; the Rutgers Symposium on Race & The Law; and numerous conference and event panels on which she served as both moderator and featured speaker.

Testy is a first-generation college graduate who earned both her undergraduate degree in journalism and her law degree from Indiana University in Bloomington, her hometown. She graduated summa cum laude from Indiana University Maurer School of Law-Bloomington, where she was editor-in-chief of the Indiana Law Journal. After graduating, she clerked for Judge Jesse E. Eschbach, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

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