Robert E. Rodes, Jr. Fellowship

Notre Dame Law School’s Program on Church, State & Society is proud to sponsor the Robert E. Rodes, Jr. Fellowship in Law and Religion. Established in 2022, the Fellowship is designed for early-career legal scholars who teach and research in the area of law and religion. The Rodes Fellowship is named in honor of the late Notre Dame Law School Professor Robert E. Rodes, Jr., who joined the faculty in 1956 and served the Law School for more than 50 years. His teaching and scholarship covered legal ethics, jurisprudence, and law and theology, among other areas.

Past Rodes Fellows have served as visiting assistant professors at Notre Dame Law School for one or multi-year terms. In this capacity, they have taught traditional first-year courses (e.g., Torts, Contracts), as well as smaller, upper-division courses (e.g., Education Law, Labor & Employment) in preparation for the academic job market.

Stefan McDaniel was the inaugural holder of the Rodes Fellowship. Upon the conclusion of his fellowship, McDaniel was named a tenure-track associate professor at Notre Dame Law School. He was suceeeded by Jorge Barrera-Rojas in 2023. Barrera-Rojas was later named a tenure-track assistant professor at the Univesity of St. Thomas School of Law (MN). During the 2026-2027 academic year, the Rodes Fellowship is held by Dennis J. Wieboldt III.

Early career scholars interested in the Rodes Fellowship are encouraged to contact the Director of the Program on Church, State & Society, Richard W. Garnett.