HIGHLIGHTS:
Earl Warren Professor of Law; joined California Western in 1986
JChair, J.D./Ph.D. Dual Degree Program in History; Adjunct Professor of History, University of California, San Diego
J.D. University of Texas; M.A., Ph.D. University of Wisconsin; B.A. University of California, Los Angeles
Courses Taught: Criminal Law; American Legal History II; Constitutional Law I & II; Constitutional Law Seminar
Profile Page: Michal Belknap
Across the country there are great law school professors and there are outstanding historians, but rarely are both talents found in one person. California Western is fortunate that for the past 21 years, Professor Michal Belknap has combined the two disciplines in a way that makes him the archetypal professor in the school’s drive for excellence in legal research.
Belknap's superb skills as a legal historian and constitutional law professor were recognized in December when he was named California Western's first Earl Warren Professor of Law, the second of the school's six new California Heritage Professorships. These distinguished, endowed professorships recognize leading scholars who are making a significant contribution to the law school's research initiative.
The honor comes at the perfect point in Belknap's career when he can reflect with pride on his many accomplishments yet eagerly look forward to many more years of productivity in teaching and research.
"To me the professorship symbolizes both my deep passion for scholarship over the years as well as California Western’s intense renewed emphasis on research," Belknap says. "I could not have achieved a fraction of what I've accomplished without the tremendous freedom the school has given me to pursue my research. And today, what's exciting is that I really see a time in the near future when California Western will become a national leader in legal research on a number of different fronts."
What's interesting about Belknap is that he just as easily could have ended up with a career teaching history rather than law. Born in a small town in southeastern Oregon, Belknap and his family moved to California when he was 10. His father, a pubic school teacher and principal whose own drive led him to become an education professor for two decades at what is now Cal State Northridge, could not afford law school but dreamed that his son would become a lawyer. Belknap went to UCLA with that intention but fell in love with history instead. He was particularly fascinated by American legal history and he focused on that subject in earning an M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin. At that point, Belknap realized a law degree would be the ideal complement to teaching legal history. His position as an assistant history professor at the University of Texas allowed him to simultaneously attend the university’s law school. After getting his law degree, Belknap taught history at the University of Georgia but began to transition into the legal profession with visiting law professorships at the University of Houston and Seton Hall University.
In 1986, Belknap was recruited to California Western, where he teaches America Legal History, Constitutional Law and Criminal Law. He also created the Summer Enrichment Program that acquaints newly admitted students with how legal education works.
Belknap's research has flourished at California Western, enabling him to publish seven books and more than 50 articles and essays. Belknap's focus is the history of civil rights and civil liberties in 20th century America. Among his books are The Supreme Court Under Earl Warren and The Vietnam War on Trial: The My Lai Massacre and the Court Martial of Lieutenant Calley.
At 64, Belknap shows no signs of slowing down, despite surviving several physical challenges, including a successful battle against prostate cancer and a brain abscess four years ago that was misdiagnosed as a terminal brain tumor.
"I feel great and don't think I've ever been busier," Belknap says. "I still love teaching and on the research side I'm working on three new books. I've never enjoyed my scholarly work more. I'm fascinated by the process of digging for something no one has discovered before and then creating an intellectual framework to make it accessible so that hopefully it can help people understand how legal issues were dealt with in the past and how they can influence the handling of similar issues in the present."