William G. MerkelVisiting Professor of Law from the Washburn University School of Law
He is the author, with the late Richard Uviller, of The Militia and the Right to Arms, Or, How the Second Amendment Fell Silent (Duke University Press, 2002). He taught American history at Oxford University from 2001-2003 and Comparative Introduction to American Law to foreign trained LL.M. students at Columbia from 2003-2005. Professor Merkel received a doctorate in history from Oxford University in 2007. He is in the process of revising his D. Phil. thesis "Race, Liberty, and Law: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery, 1770-1800" for publication as a book to be titled Jefferson and Slavery -- A Legal History. Professor Merkel is a member of the New York and District of Columbia bars.
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Following graduation from Johns Hopkins with a B.A. in history, Professor Merkel worked as a cook in Baltimore and then as an analyst with the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C. before returning to graduate studies. He completed his J.D. at Columbia Law School in 1996 and then worked in appellate litigation with Wiley, Rein & Fielding in Washington. 
