Mark E. Brandon

Mark E. Brandon is the Thomas E. McMillan Professor of Law and Academic Director at the Shelby Institute for Policy and Leadership. He served as Dean of the University of Alabama School of Law from 2014 to 2023 and has held visiting positions at Princeton University, the University of Michigan, the University of Oklahoma, and Vanderbilt.

• Education:
• B.A., University of Montevallo
• J.D., University of Alabama
• M.A., University of Michigan
• Ph.D., Princeton University

His research focuses on American constitutional history, law, and theory, with particular emphasis on secession, federalism, constitutional interpretation, and the intersection of family and the constitutional order. He has authored two major books: Free in the World: American Slavery and Constitutional Failure (Princeton University Press) and States of Union: Family and Change in the American Constitutional Order (University Press of Kansas), the latter being a finalist for the ABA’s Silver Gavel Award.

Professor Brandon has contributed essays to edited volumes and journals, including “War and Constitutional Change” in The Limits to Constitutional Democracy, “Originalism and Purpose in Constitutional Interpretation” in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, and a brief entry on “Constitutionalism” in the Oxford Handbook on the United States Constitution. His visiting senior research scholar position at Princeton University’s Program in Law and Public Affairs (2008–09) further underscores his national scholarly prominence.