Dean Jerry Dickinson has appointed Professor Joshua Ash as Assistant Director of Clinical Programs, effective September 1, 2026. Ash will work under the direction of and in collaboration with Professor Alice Stewart, Director of Clinical Programs, to strengthen the administration, coordination, and continued development of Pitt Law’s clinical offerings.
As Assistant Director, Ash will support Stewart in the day-to-day administration of the clinical program while helping advance a more coordinated and institutionally integrated approach to clinical legal education.
“Clinical education is an essential part of how Pitt Law prepares students to become skilled, thoughtful, and practice-ready lawyers,” said Jerry Dickinson, Dean and Professor of Law. “As our clinical program continues to develop, we must ensure that its administrative infrastructure is as strong and purposeful as the extraordinary teaching, advocacy, and community engagement taking place within our individual clinics. Professor Ash brings an uncommon combination of intellectual rigor, practical experience, interdisciplinary knowledge, and organizational skill to this role. Working alongside Professor Stewart, he will help us strengthen the clinical program while preserving the expertise and distinct contributions of each clinic.”
Stewart will retain primary responsibility for the leadership, administration, oversight, personnel coordination, and strategic direction of Pitt Law’s clinical program. In his supporting role, Ash will assist with program planning, scheduling, communications, course coordination, compliance, reporting, and the resolution of routine operational matters.
Ash will assist Stewart in developing and maintaining common administrative practices across Pitt Law’s clinics where appropriate, including practices related to student applications and enrollment, attendance, conflict checks, confidentiality, supervision, assessment, recordkeeping, and end-of-semester reporting. He will also support collecting and organizing information required for American Bar Association accreditation, University reporting, grant administration, IOLTA compliance, donor reporting, and other institutional or regulatory obligations.
“Josh is a thoughtful, collaborative colleague who understands that an excellent clinical program requires both outstanding teaching and strong coordination behind the scenes,” Stewart said. “He brings valuable experience in program development, implementation, evaluation, and interdisciplinary problem-solving. I look forward to working with him to support our clinical faculty, improve the experience of our students, and ensure that Pitt Law’s clinics continue to provide rigorous legal education while delivering meaningful service to our clients and communities.”
“I am honored to take on this role and to work alongside Professor Stewart and my clinical colleagues to support the continued growth of Pitt Law’s clinical program,” Ash said. “Our clinics give students the opportunity to develop the judgment, skills, and professional values that come from representing clients, working with communities, and addressing real-world legal challenges. I look forward to helping strengthen the coordination and infrastructure that support this work while ensuring that each clinic can continue to build on its distinct strengths and serve our students, clients, and communities.”
An Interdisciplinary Leader in Environmental Law and Policy
Ash is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Law and Director of Pitt Law’s Environmental Law & Policy Clinic. Under his leadership, the clinic works with communities throughout the Pittsburgh region to advance local climate-change mitigation and adaptation policies, promote a safe and clean environment regardless of race or income, and facilitate green and equitable economic opportunities.
His research examines policy mechanisms for improving public participation in climate mitigation and adaptation, sector-specific approaches to decarbonization in transportation, agriculture, and industry, and emerging approaches to environmental governance. His scholarly interests also include constitutional environmental rights, intergenerational equity, and environmental justice.
Ash brings a multidisciplinary range of practical skills to his teaching and clinical leadership, including legal research, legislative advocacy, statutory interpretation, environmental permitting, grant implementation, policy drafting, program evaluation, infrastructure-project delivery, and qualitative and quantitative social-science research.
Before joining Pitt Law, Ash worked on national and state climate policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, the RAND Corporation, and the Georgetown Climate Center. His work supported major federal policies and programs, including the Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program, Buy Clean initiatives, the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation program, Justice40, and the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program.
Ash has also worked with the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the West Virginia Water Research Institute, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In private practice, he served as a project attorney for Walsh Construction on two major infrastructure projects valued at approximately $1 billion each.
He is an active member of the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, where he serves as co-chair of the Membership Diversity Enhancement Program and previously participated in the section’s Leadership Development Program.
Ash earned his JD from the West Virginia University College of Law, a master’s degree in natural resource economics, and bachelor’s degrees in environmental geoscience, French, and international affairs from West Virginia University. He is also a PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public and International Affairs.
“Professor Ash’s appointment reflects our commitment to building a clinical program that is not only academically rigorous and responsive to community needs, but also coordinated, sustainable, and positioned for long-term excellence,” Dickinson said. “I am grateful to Professor Stewart for her leadership and to Professor Ash for agreeing to take on this important responsibility. Together, they will help ensure that Pitt Law’s clinical program remains a defining component of our students’ education and our institution’s public mission.”