Gail Agrawal was the first in her family to finish high school, the first to go to college and the first to go to graduate school. Now the New Orleans native is Kansas University School of Law’s first female dean.

“I’m thrilled,” Agrawal said Wednesday from Chapel Hill, N.C., where she is interim dean and professor at the University of North Carolina’s School of Law.

Agrawal, who begins July 1, replaces Steve McAllister, who resigned and returned to teaching in August. Michael Davis is serving as interim dean. Agrawal’s salary will be $240,000.

Provost David Shulenburger said Agrawal would give the school an edge as it recruits new faculty, would increase the quality of students and would work with the faculty to improve productivity.

“I think the school could use more positive exposure for all of the great things that are happening down there,” he said. “She’s going to help out with that.”

Agrawal has worked at UNC since 1997, serving as associate dean for academic affairs, senior associate dean and, lately, interim dean.

She is a graduate of the University of New Orleans. She received a master’s degree from Tulane School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and a law degree from Tulane School of Law.

Agrawal said she attended the private Tulane because her husband was a member of the faculty at the time. She has a passion for public law schools because of their rich relationship with the practicing bar and the bench, she said.

She said she wanted to review the first-year curriculum to make sure the school is laying a proper foundation for students. And she wants to review the third-year program to ensure the school is doing what it can to properly transition young lawyers. She said she would play the role of cheerleader-in-chief, trumpeting the school’s successes.

Agrawal’s husband, Naurang Agrawal, a physician, will join KU’s medical school faculty, she said.

KU law professor Richard Levy, a member of the search committee, said KU’s law school was similar to UNC’s in mission, size and relationship to the state and broader university community.

“Her experience is directly relevant and extremely valuable to sort of move into this setting,” he said.

Ellen Sward, associate dean for research and a law professor, said the hiring of a female law dean made female faculty members happy.

“I do think it makes it easier to recruit both female faculty and students who are women,” Sward said. “She’s a symbol in that sense for women who are thinking of being lawyers. She’s a good symbol and a role model.”

Agrawal bested three other finalists, including Kansas Board of Regents president and chief executive officer Reginald Robinson. Robinson could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The other candidates were Gary Simson, law professor and former associate dean for academic affairs at Cornell University in New York, and John Gotanda, associate dean for research, a law professor and director of the J.D./M.B.A. program at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.