Washburn Law Celebrates "Best Law Teacher" Rory Bahadur

Photograph: Rory Bahadur.

Washburn University School of Law is hosting a recognition ceremony and reception celebrating Professor Rory Bahadur's selection as one of the top 26 "best law teachers" in the United States. Bahadur is one of the elite law professors, and the only from Kansas, featured in "What the Best Law Teachers Do" (Harvard University Press, 2013). Bahadur is one of 250 law professors nominated for this book project, which entailed two years of evaluations and classroom observation of his teaching.

  • WHAT: Ceremony and reception recognizing excellence in law teaching and celebrating Professor Rory Bahadur’s selection as one of the top 26 “best law teachers” in the nation.
  • WHEN: Thursday, September 19, 2013, 4:30-6:30 p.m. Remarks begin at 5:00 p.m.
  • WHERE: Washburn University, Bradbury Thompson Alumni Center, Convocation Hall
  • WHO: Professor Rory Bahadur, recognized by Dean Thomas J. Romig and Associate Dean Aïda M. Alaka

“The selection was really important to me professionally,” said Professor Bahadur. “There are many aspects to being a law professor apart from teaching, but teaching is the part I love and it was good to know, based on the comments in the book, that my students appreciated my effort.”

Bahadur was nominated by Kenneth DeLaughder, '09, who wrote, "He brings a level of excitement to teaching that is hard for even students to keep up with. ... Bahadur's students PAY ATTENTION because his energy demands it. He makes you want to keep up and learn WITH him, not through him."

Professor Rory Bahadur joined the Washburn Law faculty in 2007. He currently teaches Torts, Civil Procedure, Admiralty and Maritime Law, and Federal Courts and presents nationally and internationally on teaching methods and techniques. He was voted Professor of the Year at Washburn in 2010 and 2012 and is the National Academic Curriculum Consultant for the American Bar Association’s Council on Legal Education Opportunity (CLEO). The CLEO program seeks to expand legal education opportunities to minority, low-income, and disadvantaged groups. In his role as consultant, Professor Bahadur assists CLEO with program development and oversees all of CLEO’s programming for entering and first-year law students. 

“I am lucky to be at a school that values and encourages good teaching,” Bahadur said.

Prior to joining Washburn Law, Professor Bahadur practiced admiralty and maritime law in south Florida; taught torts, admiralty and maritime law; and was the Director of Academic Support at St. Thomas University School of Law. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology (Honors) from the University of the West Indies and a Master of Arts in Marine Affairs from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. He earned his juris doctor degree from St. Thomas University School of Law in 2003, where he graduated summa cum laude and first in his class.

“Washburn Law considers itself lucky to have Professor Bahadur in its ranks,” said Dean Thomas J. Romig.