Law dean characterizes Richard Broughton as 'consummate professor'

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Law J. Richard Broughton received University of Detroit Mercy’s Faculty Achievement Award at the Faculty Recognition Awards Dinner Nov. 4. The award is for faculty members who demonstrate distinctive merit and achievement as a junior faculty member with the promise of continuing development to excellence in teaching, service, and scholarly activity.

The nomination and selection process for the Faculty Achievement Award is comprehensive. It includes two nomination letters by others, one of which must be the nominee’s department chair, and a supporting reference letter from the nominee’s dean. There is also a review of the nominee’s publications within the past five years, a statement of the nominee’s philosophy about teaching, scholarly research, and service, and evidence of service and teaching excellence.
Commenting on the award, Dean Phyllis L. Crocker said, “Richard Broughton is the consummate professor. His teaching, scholarship, and service exemplify what it means to be a law professor. Like every one of our professors, Richard practiced law in his area of expertise before he turned to teaching. When Richard is in the classroom, he is teaching our students what it is that lawyers do. He is intensely practical but not at the expense of ensuring that our students are well grounded in the theory of law.”

Broughton joined the Detroit Mercy Law faculty in 2009 and was appointed associate dean for academic affairs in July of 2016.

Previously, he served as visiting assistant professor of law at Wayne State University, where he was named both the First-Year Professor of the Year and Upperclass Professor of the Year for 2008-09. He also has taught on the law school faculties at Stetson University and Texas Wesleyan University (where he also won two teaching awards), and as a Lecturer in Government at Johns Hopkins University.

His scholarship focuses on American politics and institutions and the intersection of politics, constitutionalism, and criminal justice.

Broughton served in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. His work involved federal prosecutions of violent crime related to gang activity, drug trafficking, organized crime, and racketeering. He advised senior Justice Department leaders and federal prosecutors on issues of federal criminal and constitutional law arising in federal death penalty matters; assisted in federal capital prosecutions, appeals, and post-conviction litigation; helped to craft and review federal crime legislation; and assisted senior leaders in preparing for congressional hearings and oversight.  He received both the Meritorious Service Award and the Special Achievement Award from the Justice Department.

He also served as assistant attorney general of Texas for Capital and Post-Conviction Litigation.

He has a B.A. from Hampden-Sydney College, a J.D. from Widener University, and an LL.M. from Georgetown University.

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