The renowned international constitutional law expert and beloved, long-serving UVA professor A.E. Dick Howard has been recognized for his life of public service with the 2025 Outstanding Virginian Award.
The Virginia General Assembly bestows the award on those whose distinguished contributions, outstanding achievements, and dedicated leadership serve as an inspiration to all civic-minded citizens. UVA Batten Dean Ian H. Solomon serves on the award selection committee, and the school administers the award.
“A recognition like this, I can’t preen too much, because there are a lot of people who could have earned this honor. I happen to be one representative of that large number of people, and so I’m flattered and touched,” Howard said in an interview this week.
His trademark humility belies the stature of his participation in historical moments in the commonwealth, the nation, and the world.
A Richmond native and graduate of UVA Law School (at the top of his Class of 1961), Howard said his high school and college teachers were the inspiration for him going into public service law. “They steered me to the ideals of constitutionalism, the rule of law, open society, freedom of expression and thought and belief.”
Early in his career, Howard clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black at a time when the justice wrote some of the most momentous legal opinions in U.S. history, affirming indigent defendants’ rights to publicly funded counsel, and ending Virginia’s massive resistance movement to racial desegregation of public schools.
Howard would go on to serve in myriad capacities as a consultant or counsel to governors and state and federal lawmakers. He has advised constitutional drafters around the world (Brazil, Romania, Russia, Zimbabwe, to name a few); a recent profile in UVA Lawyer notes that Howard had a hand in helping shape “more constitutions than all the Founding Fathers put together.”
In 1968, the General Assembly tapped Howard to be the executive director of the Virginia Commission on Constitutional Revision; there he led the successful referendum campaign for ratification of the new constitution.
When he retired from teaching at the UVA School of Law last year, Howard was the longest-serving faculty member since UVA was founded in 1819 — a career spanning 60 years. He’s quick to say he was not intending to set a record. The fact is, he loves teaching.
“Of all the things I’ve done that I’m proudest of, that I take the most pleasure in, it’s the students I’ve taught over the years. If I could point to something that I hope will matter some day, that’s it,” he said. “I’ve had most amazing people in the classroom. They’ve gone on to be federal judges, governors, ambassadors, you name it. They teach me so much.”
These days, Howard still gives an occasional lecture or files amicus curiae briefs when called upon, or responds to requests from Virginia legislators asking for his opinion on various legal matters.
He’s also started curating his papers for the UVA Law Library, sorting through boxes and boxes of papers in his attic, taking the time to reflect on the many moments of his career that brought him the opportunity to make history.
“I love being busy. I’ve got lots of projects going. No rocking chair for me.”
(Read the article in the spring 2024 edition of UVA Lawyer, beginning on page 38.)
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