WHEREAS, in 2015, Arthur Ellsworth Dick Howard, a respected expert on constitutional law and a passionate educator, became the longest-serving faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Law with more than 50 years of diligent service; and

WHEREAS, a native of Richmond, Dick Howard earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Richmond and a law degree from the University of Virginia; he also earned bachelor's and master's degrees as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University; and

WHEREAS, Dick Howard gained an appreciation for how legal systems shape history as a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black during the civil rights era; he joined the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Law in 1964 and currently serves as the White Burkett Miller Professor of Law and Public Affairs; and

WHEREAS, Dick Howard served as the executive director of the commission that wrote the current Constitution of Virginia in 1971; he has argued cases before state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States, and served as counsel to the Virginia General Assembly and other state and federal bodies; and

WHEREAS, frequently consulted by members of both parties on constitutional issues, Dick Howard has authored numerous books and articles on constitutionalism and is a regular guest legal expert on television news programs; and

WHEREAS, Dick Howard has also offered his expertise to emerging democracies around the world; he became the first non-Czech citizen to receive the Antonin Randa Medal from the Union of Czech Lawyers for his work to promote civil society in central Europe; and

WHEREAS, Dick Howard has earned numerous other awards, accolades, and honorary degrees, including the University of Virginia's prestigious Thomas Jefferson Award; he was named by Washingtonian magazine as one of the most respected educators in the country and was included on a list of the greatest Virginians of the 20th century by the Library of Virginia and the Richmond Times-Dispatch; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That Arthur Ellsworth Dick Howard hereby be commended for his service to the Commonwealth, the United States, and countries around the world on the occasion of his 50th anniversary as a faculty member of the University of Virginia School of Law; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Arthur Ellsworth Dick Howard as an expression of the House of Delegates' admiration for his legacy of excellence as a legal scholar.