Derek P. Langhauser - 2014
Derek P. Langhauser is General Counsel of the Maine Community College System where he has served since 1994. He also now serves as Counsel to the Maine Maritime Academy. He has worked in private practice and has served as special counsel to United States Senator Olympia J. Snowe. He also has served as Chief Counsel to the Office of the Governor of Maine and was a law clerk for the Maine Supreme Court. Derek is a member of the Council of The American Law Institute and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He holds a B.A. from Bates College and a J.D. from the University of Maine School of Law.
A member of NACUA since 1995, Derek served as the Association's Chair of the Board of Directors in 2009-2010. He also has served on virtually every NACUA committee, and currently serves as Chair of the Editorial Board of The Journal of College and University Law; his service on this Editorial Board alone spans more than a decade. He also has spoken at NACUA live and virtual meetings on more than 20 occasions. Derek's scholarship in higher education law -- from both a longevity and content perspective -- is extraordinary. The number of publications he has authored and coauthored are too numerous to list here. He has written or edited over a dozen articles and books, including the 2,000-page NACUA compendium on free speech. His breadth and depth of scholarship in so many areas of the law, beginning immediately in the same year he graduated from law school, have led to significant cases that have been relied upon throughout the United States, included cases addressing academic freedom, First Amendment issues, military base closures, campaign finance litigation, impeachment trials, shutdown of the state government, curtailment of state budgetary allotments, judicial selection, and many other issues.
His NACUA colleagues noted Derek's many contributions to NACUA, most especially his service as Chair of its Board of Directors, as well as his many contributions to scholarly works for NACUA and others, all the while serving as the sole in-house counsel for the Maine Community College System for many of his years of service since 1994.
Few individuals can parallel Derek's accomplishments and scholarly contributions to the field of higher education law. NACUA is pleased to recognize Derek P. Langhauser as a Fellow of the Association for his extensive scholarship in higher education over an extended period of time for the benefit of all colleges and universities.