Julie K. Underwood, a nationally recognized authority on school law, became the eighth dean of the University of Wisconsin School of Education in August 2005.

Underwood taught at UW-Madison from 1986 to 1995 on the faculty of the Department of Educational Administration (now Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis). She returned to Madison after serving as dean of Miami University's School of Education and Allied Professions from 1995 to 1998 and as associate executive director and general counsel for the National School Boards Association in Washington , D.C from 1998 to 2005.

At the NSBA, she led a legal advocacy program on behalf of the nation’s public school boards, a responsibility that included presenting friend-of-the-court briefs and legal strategies before the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts. She also was responsible for the 3,000-member Council of School Attorneys.

At UW-Madison, Underwood has served as chair of the Department of Educational Administration (1993-94), associate dean of the School of Education (1994-95), and co-director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Policy at the Robert M. La Follette Institute of Public Affairs (1990-93).

She co-authored several books, including School Law for Teachers (Prentice Hall, 2005), Legal Aspects of Special Education and Pupil Services (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1994), and The Principal’s Legal Handbook (Education Law Association, 1993).

She received her bachelor's degree from DePauw University (1976), a law degree from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in educational leadership from the University of Florida (1984).