Visiting Professor of Political Science Luke Bierman ’79, the A. Lindsay O’Connor Chair of American Institutions at Colgate University, was honored for his legacy as Dean Emeritus and Professor of Law at Elon University School of Law on May 12.
At the ceremony, Bierman was recognized for his innovative approach to a legal education and for pioneering the school’s 2.5-year J.D. curriculum and Residency-in-Practice Program, which became a nationally recognized model of experiential legal education.
Bierman’s passion for innovation and learning began at Colgate University, where he paved his own academic path as a student — creating a personalized major that featured history and political science courses. He graduated magna cum laude with High Honors and election to Phi Beta Kappa.
After Colgate, Bierman graduated from the Law School at William and Mary in 1982 and earned a Ph.D. in Political Science at SUNY Albany in 1994. Throughout his career, Bierman has practiced law, clerked for a judge, worked in public policy with speech writing and fundraising, among others — embracing careers that he finds interesting and rewarding. Beyond his impact as a lawyer and educator, Bierman has also shepherded a flock of sheep and helped raise three daughters. Soon, each of his daughters will have earned doctorate degrees.
“These experiences, full of funny stories and memorable people, informed my life with creativity, contribution, humor, and humility in what I think of as applied scholarship,” Bierman says. “I work in an area as a practitioner and as a scholar, which provides a broad capacity to study and learn about a topic and then to work collegially for improvement.”
This approach is evident in Bierman’s contributions in higher education. When Bierman first arrived at Elon in 2014, legal education faced challenges of affordability, time, and relevance. While applications plummeted nationwide and questions arose regarding whether graduates were prepared for the realities of legal practice, Elon Law embraced a new approach: shortening the path to a legal degree and requiring students to complete a full trimester in a course connected to Residency-in-Practice.
This redesign proved successful. Elon Law reported record enrollment numbers, improved bar passage, and improved employment outcomes, all while average student loan debt decreased by nearly 30%.
Drawn back to Hamilton, Bierman returned to Colgate in 2023 to teach undergraduate students constitutional law along with concepts they could be exposed to in law school. His courses include a seminar in law and popular culture, constitutional law courses, and a new course he began in the spring semester: Rule of Law in Contemporary America. Bierman has become known among Colgate students for his accessibility outside the classroom. He regularly meets with students considering law school.
“When I had the opportunity to come back to Colgate to teach, I was especially excited to revisit my liberal arts framework by sharing my experiences at a new time with a new generation of students,” Bierman says. “Returning to Hamilton with fresh perspective seems a good way to bookend my contributions as an educator with my personal interests that found root at Colgate 50 years ago. To paraphrase Bruce Springsteen when he sang ‘Rosalita’ at Starr Rink during spring party weekend on April 9, 1976, ‘We do look back and it does all seem funny.’”