Kaine to teach law, leadership after term

Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine will resume teaching at the University of Richmond after his successor, Republican Robert F. McDonnell, takes the oath of office on Jan. 16.

Mr. Kaine, a Democrat, announced Thursday that he has accepted a part-time teaching position at the university’s school of law and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies. He previously taught a legal ethics class there from 1987 to 1993.

“I have always been a believer in the power of education, and I am thrilled to be rejoining the faculty of the University of Richmond this coming semester,” Mr. Kaine said at a press conference announcing the decision. “I look forward to contributing to the next generation of legal scholars and leaders.”

He will start during the spring semester teaching a class on Monday mornings called “Leadership Breakthroughs” to undergraduates and in the fall he will teach a law class. The governor will also assist the school in developing its strategic vision.

Mr. Kaine, who graduated from Harvard Law School, practiced law in Richmond for 17 years. He served as lieutenant governor before he was elected governor in 2005.

Law school dean John Douglass said it was “hard to imagine anyone better equipped than Governor Kaine to help train the next generation of lawyers” to serve within local, state and national governments.

Mr. Kaine told reporters Wednesday that he will continue to work full-time as chairman for the Democratic National Committee and that he and his wife are going to return to their old neighborhood just a few miles from the governor’s mansion.

With congressional races fast approaching, Mr. Kaine said he expects to spend a lot of time traveling around the country. Mr. Kaine said Wednesday that 37 gubernatorial races will be held next year, three dozen U.S. Senate seats are up for grabs and that some statehouse elections could affect redistricting.

“So I’ll have my hands full,” he said. “So I’ll be a frequent flier out of many airports, I suspect. And that is my plan going forward.”