George Mader Joins Knudson School of Law as Director of Legal Writing and Associate Professor of Law
Mader brings over two decades of experience from various esteemed law schools, where he has taught courses in Legal Writing & Research, Constitutional History, Legislation, Conflict of Laws, and Trial Advocacy.
Mader’s scholarship focuses on constitutional and statutory interpretation, focusing on questions that bring the wording and structure of text together with history. He is particularly interested in separation of powers issues, the theory and limits of constitutional amendment, and legislative entrenchment. His pedagogical approach is dedicated to fostering students’ abilities to craft creative and persuasive legal arguments, emphasizing clarity of thought and communication, combined with an engaging style and rhetorical effectiveness.
Mader earned undergraduate degrees in mathematics and physics at St. John’s University in Minnesota, and then an M.A. in mathematics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Before transitioning to law, he was a tenured undergraduate mathematics professor. He later graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Law as a Trogner Scholar and subsequently clerked for Justices Alan Page and Joan Ericksen of the Minnesota Supreme Court, as well as Judge Myron Bright of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
Throughout his career, Mader has been a faculty member at the law schools of the University of Illinois, the University of Nevada–Las Vegas and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He has also served as a visiting professor at the University of Michigan School of Law and the Southern University Law Center.
Raised on a dairy farm in Minnesota as the youngest of seven children, Mader has a rich background in both academia and personal interests. A longtime runner and sports enthusiast, he is also a devoted baseball fan. In recent years, he has discovered a passion for dogs, proudly sharing his home with four adopted canine companions.
“I'm very much looking forward to teaching at the Knudson School of Law,” said Mader. “One reason for that is the genuine sense of community I felt when I interviewed here. The small size of the school no doubt has something to do with it, and perhaps the long winters, too! Another reason is the outsized impact a school like Knudson can have, as the only law school in the state. Teaching the students at this school has an immediate effect on the legal practice in the state. I hope to continue what is clearly a long history of excellent and demanding instruction.”
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