This news a bit belated, but noteworthy anyway: Mark Grady, the successful Dean of the law school at George Mason University since 1997, will be stepping down this summer: story here. Grady, who came to George Mason from UCLA, recruited his former Northwestern colleague Daniel Polsby to the faculty, as well as constitutional law and legal ethics scholar Ronald Rotunda, among many others. He built on the foundation laid by Henry Manne, who established George Mason as an important center of law and economics. Perhaps one of his most important accomplishments was to effectively manage the school’s relationship with the U.S. News rankings, where George Mason is now in the top 40. George Mason ought to be in the top 40 by academic measures, but those play a relatively small role in U.S. News. And while you can explain till your blue in the face why your school “ought to be top 40,” it’s a helluva lot easier to just be there!