Marcus Gadson, assistant professor of law for the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law, was the 2024 recipient of the D. P. Russ, Jr. and Walter S. Jones, Sr. Alumni Award for Research Excellence in May.
The award stands as the pinnacle of faculty commendation for scholarly work at Campbell University. To be considered for this award, one must be nominated by fellow colleagues and then selected by the Faculty Research Committee.
Gadson joined the law school faculty in 2019, and within five years, he has produced the most highly regarded publications of any professor in the nearly 50 year history of the school.
Gadson is the first law professor to have published in a Top 10 journal, and it’s a feat he’s now reached twice, in addition to two other Top 15 journal publications. His works have appeared, or are forthcoming, in top-ranked journals such as the Michigan Law Review, UCLA Law Review and Georgetown Law Journal.
He has also completed a scholarly monograph with one of the leading academic presses, New York University Press (a big accomplishment this early in his career).
More important than the quantity and quality of his articles or the prestige journals is the impact of Gadson’s scholarship. His research focuses primarily on the role of state constitutions in important legal questions. As one of the few noteworthy scholars focused on this topic, his scholarly work has brought new insights and highlighted the importance of considering these issues not only through the lens of the federal constitution but also through state constitutions as many cases are decided at this level or may inform later decisions at the federal level.
Gadson has also written thoughtfully on racial justice, at times sharing very personal experiences and lessons. He sits on both the North Carolina Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and also the Eastern District of North Carolina Local Rules Advisory Committee and is an active member of the NAACP.
He has been voted 1L Professor of the Year by Campbell students three times, and he received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2022.
Gadson earned a B.A. with High Honors from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He then clerked for Judge Bernice Donald of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and practiced law at Steptoe and Johnson in Washington D.C.