Pepperdine Caruso Law’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution Announces New Leadership

MALIBU, California – Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law has appointed David P. Dowling (MDR ’09) as the new Judge Danny Weinstein Managing Director of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, one of the nation’s leading law-school-based dispute resolution programs. Joining the Institute alongside Dowling is Selina Shultz, who will serve as the inaugural Executive Director of the Straus Professional Training Programs and lead the expansion of these programs domestically and internationally.

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Dowling, who has served as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine since 2018, will provide strategic and operational leadership for the Institute’s academic programs, professional training initiatives, and partnerships. He will work closely with Professors Jack J. Coe, Jr., and Donald Earl Childress III, who will continue as academic co-directors, ensuring continuity of leadership while advancing Straus’s global impact and enhancing the student and practitioner experience that has become synonymous with the Institute.

A 2009 alumnus of the Straus Institute, Dowling brings a rare combination of academic excellence, professional practice, and institutional knowledge to the role. Prior to joining Pepperdine, Dowling spent more than a decade at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law, where he served as an adjunct professor for two years before becoming a full-time professor and the founding director of the Mediation Clinic. 

In addition to his academic work, Dowling is the founder and lead mediator of Dowling Dispute Resolution, through which he has more than 15 years of experience handling complex disputes across commercial, family, employment, probate, education, healthcare, insurance, and public policy matters. His work helps parties resolve conflict, avoid litigation, and reach durable, principled solutions. Dowling’s mediation experience also extends internationally, including multiple engagements in Kyiv, Ukraine, where he has taught and supported international mediation efforts.

“I am honored to step into this role at the Straus Institute and thrilled for the opportunity to work with our students, alumni, and outstanding faculty and staff,” said Dowling. “My Straus education opened doors I never imagined, and I look forward to guiding future generations of students as they grow into conflict resolution practitioners, leaders, and peacemakers. Together, we will strengthen programs, expand opportunities, and amplify Straus’s mission of justice and peacemaking around the world.”

Shultz will lead the expansion of Straus’s Professional Training Programs domestically and internationally. She brings extensive experience as a conflict consultant and educator. After graduating from the University of Pittsburgh Law School in 1993, Selina was a founding partner of Bunde, Gillotti, Mulroy & Shultz, P.C. and later the founder of its ADR practice group, The Alternative Group. She earned an LL.M. in Dispute Resolution at Straus in 2014.

Shultz has served as an adjunct professor at Straus since 2014, teaching in both its academic and professional skills programs, including training members of the judiciary in Uganda and Ghana. In 2017, she founded The Conflict Lab, a human-centered environment designed to elevate people’s thinking as they work to become conflict competent. Her work has included large-scale organizational conflict culture interventions in the United States and internationally, as well as facilitating memorialization and rebuilding processes in traumatized communities following the Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting and the Ghost Ship warehouse fire.

“I consider the work of Straus to be sacred, whether it is training young students, seasoned professionals, or judges from around the world,” said Shultz. “After 30 years of working in the field, I am honored, humbled, and energized to serve as a steward of the incredible Professional Training Programs that exist and to work with this team to expand the offerings to reach more individuals, communities, and industries.”

Professor Tom Stipanowich will continue his prominent role at Straus as William H. Webster Chair in Dispute Resolution, Professor of Law, Founding Academic Director, and Distinguished Scholar in Residence, contributing to Straus’s ongoing scholarship and global reputation.

“Straus is a crown jewel of Pepperdine University and Caruso Law and a global destination for dispute resolution training,” said Dean Paul L. Caron, Dean of Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law. “David Dowling and Selina Shultz are the right leaders at the right moment—bringing deep operational strength, an institution-builder’s mindset, and an unwavering commitment to Pepperdine’s unique mission. Coupled with the academic leadership of Professors Coe and Childress, this team is exceptionally positioned to expand Straus’s reach domestically and internationally, elevate its impact, and strengthen its role in shaping the future of dispute resolution scholarship and training worldwide.”

The Straus Institute is consistently ranked among the nation’s top dispute resolution programs and is widely regarded as a global leader in negotiation, mediation, and arbitration education. It prepares students and practitioners to manage and resolve conflict with integrity and skill.

Coe is a world-renowned expert on international commercial and investment arbitration and has served as an associate reporter for the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the U.S. Law of International Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration. Childress is a leading scholar of international arbitration and litigation who has argued cases before international tribunals, including the International Court of Justice, and served as the Counselor on International Law to the U.S. State Department.

“In this exciting period of growth and renewed vision, we look forward to building upon the core strengths that have made the Straus Institute a premier global leader in dispute resolution,” said Coe. “With this new leadership and the continued strength of our faculty and programs, we are well-positioned to deepen Straus’s impact and expand its global engagement,” added Childress.

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About Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution

The internationally recognized Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law leads the nation in law-school-based dispute resolution with programs that include master of Laws and master of Dispute Resolution and a certificate in dispute resolution. U.S. News & World Report has ranked law school dispute resolution programs for over 25 years, and Straus has been ranked #1 more than all other law schools in the country combined.  

About Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law

The Pepperdine Caruso School of Law offers a top-ranked legal education with nationally recognized degree programs committed to the highest principles of professional, ethical, and societal responsibility. With an emphasis on experiential learning, mentorship, faculty accessibility, global justice, and professional formation, Pepperdine Caruso Law offers a juris doctor degree, two master’s degrees, six joint-degree programs, nine LLM degrees, and five certificate programs. The law school houses 10 clinics and five institutes, including the globally recognized Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. Follow the Caruso School of Law on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

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