Photograph: Linda Henry Elrod.

Linda Henry Elrod

Richard S. Righter Distinguished Professor of Law
B.A., Washburn University, 1969
J.D., Washburn University School of Law, 1972
Contact Information:
785.670.1838
Room 207E
"I hope to impart my love of law to students, making them aware that law is not a static set of rules but rather a process which is shaped by historical, political, economic and moral ideas. Being a lawyer requires high ethical values, confidence, sound judgment and vision."

Linda D. Elrod is the Richard S. Righter Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of the Washburn University School of Law Children and Family Law Center. She served as a Fulbright Senior Specialist at the Dublin Institute of Technology in 2011.

Professor Elrod is past chair of the American Bar Association Family Law Section; has served on the ABA Family Law Section Council since 1988; served as co-chair of the ABA Child Custody and Adoption Pro Bono Advisory Board; and has been Editor of the Family Law Quarterly since 1992. She is currently the reporter to draft a Family Law Arbitration Act for the Uniform Law Commission. Professor Elrod was the Reporter for the Uniform Child Abduction Prevention Act (UCAPA) now enacted in twelve states and sits on the Joint Editorial Board on Family Law for the Uniform Law Commission. She is on the U.S. State Department Advisory Committee on Private International Law. Professor Elrod was an official observer for the International Society of Family Law to the 21st Diplomatic Session of the Hague Convention on Private International Law which drafted the Hague Convention on International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance.

Professor Elrod is the author of a national family law treatise, Child Custody Practice and Procedure; a state family law treatise, Kansas Family Law and Practice; and co-author of a family law textbook, Family Law: Cases Comments and Questions, that has been used in 35 law schools. In 2000 she coordinated an international, interdisciplinary think tank on "High Conflict Custody Cases Reforming the System for Children." Professor Elrod has written dozens of articles and is a frequent CLE speaker.

Professor Elrod's Justice Quote:

"The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world it leaves its children." . . ."Silence in the face of evil is itself evil . . . Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Professor Elrod's Recommended Reading on Racial Justice:

Teaching Responsibilities
  • Family Law
  • Child Advocacy
  • Divorce Practice
  • Comparative Family Law
  • Family Law Seminar
Support Staff
Shirley Jacobson
785.670.1106
Room 236A