College of Law Mourns the Loss of Former Dean Ken Held

The University of La Verne College of Law is mourning the loss of longtime dean Ken Held, who passed away on June 13 at the age of 79.

Held began teaching at the San Fernando Valley College of Law in 1976 and, for a time, he taught at both the University of La Verne and San Fernando as the schools were merged. He was appointed dean of the University of La Verne College of Law in 1985.

He led the College of Law through significant growth and improvement, including the early stages of pursuing American Bar Association accreditation. It was a quest that required the law school to move to a larger location, and Held led efforts to relocate the College of Law from the Hoover Building in La Verne to its new site in Ontario. He developed objectives that made the College of Law self-supporting by 1987 – all without sacrificing the quality of education.

He shifted his focus back to the classroom in 2002, serving as a professor until his retirement in 2013.

Held, who had recently moved to Las Vegas, is survived by his wife, Annette, his sons Andrew and David, and his grandson, Nathan. Services are pending.