Randy L. Dryer papers, 1987-2005

Professor Randy L. Dryer has professionally reinvented himself several times over. He started his career as a working journalist in both print and TV and then went to law school with the thought of becoming a network correspondent reporting on the United States Supreme Court. Along the way, he developed a love of the law and thus began his second career as a practicing lawyer at Utah's largest law firm, Parsons Behle & Latimer. There, he developed a national media law litigation practice where he was able to combine law and journalism by representing many local and national news organizations, including 60 minutes, CNN, the New York Times, the Associated Press, Redbook Magazine and the Salt Lake Tribune, among others. He was named Lawyer of the Year by the Utah State Bar in 2010 and in 2012 was named by Best Lawyers in America as First Amendment Lawyer of the Year in Salt Lake City. He is a past president of both the Utah State Bar and the Salt Lake County Bar Associations.

After 30 years as a practicing lawyer, he began phase three of his professional career when he was named in 2011 as the Presidential Honors Professor at the University of Utah with a joint appointment at the S.J. Quinney College of Law and the Honors College. Professor Dryer, who served as Acting Dean of the Honors College in 2017, teaches courses in Media Law, Litigation, Judicial Process, Social Media Law and Privacy.

He was a member of the Board of Trustees and Management Committee of the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympic Games Organizing Committee and served for eight years as chair of the Utah Athletic Foundation, the Olympic legacy organization that owns and operates various Olympic facilities. Professor Dryer also served for 17 years on the Board of Trustees of the University of Utah, six as chair or vice chair.

He is married to Kathy Davis Dryer, also a lawyer, and is the father of three children, all of whom received their JD's from Utah, Colorado and Stanford.