UMD Names Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel

The University of Maryland has named Juan “Jay” Rosselló vice president for legal affairs and general counsel, effective Aug. 1. In this role, Rosselló will serve as the university’s chief legal officer responsible for managing the university’s legal affairs. He will focus on helping university clients fulfill their educational, research and entrepreneurial missions in accord with the many legal and policy requirements applicable to public research universities.

“Jay’s two decades of experience working in the field of higher education will be a tremendous asset to our Office of General Counsel and the entire university,” said UMD President Darryll J. Pines. “With a professional background spanning both the public and private sectors, he is well positioned to provide insightful legal guidance and play a pivotal role in advancing our university’s goals, priorities and strategic plan.”

Rosselló currently serves as chief legal officer at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), a public, Carnegie R1, Hispanic-serving institution of higher education. Rosselló has been practicing law for more than 25 years, primarily in the fields of higher education and collegiate sports. In his current role, Rosselló is responsible for the management and oversight of UTSA’s legal duties and obligations and the administration of its legal affairs office. He provides advice and counsel to the university’s president, executive officers, faculty and staff in accomplishing business and operational goals, and in furthering the institutional mission.

Rosselló represents UTSA before administrative agencies and courts of law, and supports the university’s compliance, diversity, equity and inclusion, ethics, and risk management functions. He reviews and advises on federal, state and local laws and regulations impacting UTSA, and helps craft internal and external university communications.

“I am enthusiastic for the opportunity to serve and advise the state of Maryland’s flagship institution of higher education,” said Rosselló. “I look forward to working with community members across the University of Maryland to ensure its groundbreaking research, innovative academic pursuits, and far-reaching administrative and athletics endeavors are well supported by the Office of General Counsel.”

Previously, Rosselló served as general counsel and secretary for the InfiLaw System, a consortium of ABA-accredited law schools, responsible for the law and compliance department, and all legal and compliance affairs for the organization. Prior to that, he was the director of legal affairs and enterprise risk, ethics and compliance for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and associate general counsel for West Virginia University, the state’s flagship university. Rosselló also has professional experience as a partner and an associate at two law firms, as in-house counsel at a publicly held company, and as a judicial clerk at the United States Court of Appeals.

He brings expertise in a number of areas relevant to public institutions of higher education, including academic and accreditation matters, athletics, business transactions, human resources, intellectual and real property, litigation and dispute resolution, open records and records retention, policies and procedures, campus safety and security, research and regulatory compliance, and student affairs.

Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, Rosselló obtained his B.A. from Yale University, his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center and his MBA from Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Management.