Dean McVay, Esq.
Immed. Past President
BIOGRAPHY
Dean McVay is a resident of Upland, California, where he has lived since 2000. He is an attorney and a partner with Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, in their San Bernardino office. Dean is also an Adjunct Professor with the University of La Verne College of Law in Ontario, where he has taught since 1997.
He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Psychology in 1987. He then graduated from Vanderbilt Law School in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1990 and moved to Southern California to begin the practice of law. He has been a member of the San Bernardino
Symphony Board of Directors since 2004 and became President of the Board in 2017.
Dean also serves as a board member on the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association (President, 2012-2013; Board Member 2009-present); San Bernardino County Museum Association (President 2017-18; Immediate Past President 2018-19; Vice President 2020-present); Association of California Symphony Orchestras (Board Member; Secretary; Vice President 2019-present); and Dignity Health Inland Empire Foundation (Board Member and prior Vice-Chair). He is a recipient of the San Bernardino Symphony’s 2015 “Golden Baton” Award as well as being “Adjunct Professor of the Year,” at the University of La Verne College of Law every year since 2011, a recipient of the “Excellence in Teaching Award” from the University of La Verne (2004), and " Professor of the Year" from the University of La Verne, College of Law (2000).
As a child, Dean learned to play the piano on his Great Grandmother’s upright grand, and as a teenager, he played for his local church services, baptisms, and weddings. He also played French horn in grade school, middle school, high school, and law school with the Vanderbilt Wind Ensemble. His love of classical music and musical performance motivated him to serve with the San Bernardino Symphony. In his free time, he is a patron of the local arts scene and also rescues Cocker Spaniels with various rescue organizations.