Matthew Brogdon, senior director of the Center for Constitutional Studies, as of Jan. 1, 2023.
Utah Valley University (UVU) has named Matthew S. Brogdon, Ph.D., to fill its new Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation Endowed Directorship as the senior director of the Center for Constitutional Studies (CCS), effective Jan. 1, 2023.
The Miller Endowed Directorship was established in perpetuity by a generous $3 million gift from the Miller family in April 2022.
“UVU is fortunate to have Matthew Brogdon direct our Center for Constitutional Studies,” said Wayne Vaught, UVU Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. “As a visiting presenter, keynote speaker, and instructor at past CCS conferences and seminars, Matthew has been a great friend and supporter of the Center. Beyond that, his efforts to study, teach and promote understanding of the Constitution during his career make him a tremendous fit for this leadership role.”
Most recently, Brogdon was an associate professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he taught broadly in the fields of American politics, constitutionalism and political philosophy. As a teacher, he has been recognized for excellence in service to students by the National Society of Leadership and Success and for his contribution to academic integrity by Baylor University, where he previously taught.
Brogdon’s scholarship examines American constitutionalism with special attention to the federal judiciary. He has published on the constitutional origins of judicial federalism and the development of the federal courts, among other topics. His work on the constitutional debate over inferior courts in the First Congress was named Article of the Year by the American Political Thought section of the American Political Science Association. His current book project, Constitutional Foundations of the Modern Judiciary, utilizes the Quill Project as a robust research tool to recover the institutional logic that animated the framing of Article III of the Constitution.
“My family and I are thrilled to be moving to Utah County. Being asked to lead the center as Miller Senior Director in the important work of cultivating constitutional literacy and advancing the study of constitutional government is a great privilege,” said Brogdon. “I look forward to working with the exceptional students, faculty, and staff at UVU and to promoting a vibrant dialogue on and off campus regarding constitutional principles and the role of government.”
Brogdon earned his doctoral degree in Political Science from Baylor University and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Political Science at the University of West Florida. At Baylor, Brogdon held the R.W. Morrison Fellowship for Study of the Constitution and was named Richard D. Huff Distinguished Graduate Student.
Scott Paul, who has served as director of CCS since July 2020, will continue with the Center as its executive director.
About the UVU Center for Constitutional Studies, Quill Project
Established in 2011, the UVU Center for Constitutional Studies, a nonpartisan academic institute, promotes the instruction, study and research of constitutionalism. The Center engages students, scholars, educators, leaders and the public on constitutional issues where political thought, public policy, religion, law, history, education and economics intersect.
Conferences, university curriculum, faculty scholarship, a robust research agenda, strategic partnerships and K-12 initiatives are among the many touchpoints that allow the Center to prepare citizens with the broad understanding of thought and practices critical to the perpetuation of constitutional government, ordered liberty and the rule of law.
CCS partners with the Quill Project of Pembroke College at Oxford University. The Quill Project’s mission is to digitally model the creation of constitutions and other founding documents. CCS directors and students work closely with the Oxford Quill team to help build its platform for the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787. CCS and Quill have also modeled the congressional debates that produced the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, as well as the proceedings of the Utah Constitutional Convention of 1895. CCS and Quill’s 50 in 10 project is now underway with the goal to complete models of all 50 state constitutional conventions in the next 10 years.
