Judith A. Gundersen, President and CEO of the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE). (Courtesy photo)

If there’s one person who controls the fate of law graduates across the nation, it’s Judith Gundersen.

Gundersen stepped in as the president of the National Conference of Bar Examiners on Aug. 21 following the retirement of longtime president Erica Moeser. Gundersen is no stranger to the Madison, Wisconsin-based conference, which develops the national portions of the all-important attorney licensing exam. She has worked there for 17 years, most recently as the director of test operations where she oversaw the development and production of the bar exam.

Gundersen assumes the presidency at a turbulent time, when many critics blame the exam itself for pass rates that have declined over the past three years. There may be good news on the horizon for the thousands of new law graduates who sat for the exam in July, however. Gundersen said this week that the national average score on the Multistate Bar Exam—the 200-question multiple choice portion of the test—rose 1.4 points over the July 2016 average. That bodes well for pass rates in many jurisdictions. We spoke with Gundersen about her priorities for the bar exam, what the test of the future might look like, and what the bar exam critics get wrong. Her answers have been edited for length and clarity.