William C. Bradford

William C. Bradford is a professor of law, specializing in international law, federal Indian law, property, national security/foreign relations law, and the laws of armed conflict.

Vita

Bradford graduated summa cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law, where he served as project editor of the University of Miami Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif. He also received an LL.M. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University. He is Chiricahua Apache Indian and serves as Ambassador to the U.N. for the Miami Tribe of Indians of Indiana.

Teaching at Indiana University

Bradford joined the faculty of Indiana University School of Law Indianapolis in the fall of 2002 after serving in the Army Reserve. He also served at the War Gaming and Simulation Center, National Defense University, Fort McNair, Virginia, and was an advisor to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Shalikashvili.

Bradford has authored numerous law review articles on international law, the laws of war, and federal Indian law. One of his more recent articles was published in the Notre Dame Law Review, titled, "The Duty to Defend Them: A Natural Legal Justification of the Bush Doctrine of Preventative War." He is also a frequent commentator in local and national media on laws of war issues regarding Iraq and the War on Terror. He was named a Dean's Fellow in recognition of scholarly excellence in both 2004-2005 and 2005-2006.

Before resigning from Indiana University (see below), he was one of fewer than fifty tenured or tenure-track academic legal faculty members of Native American origin in the U.S.

Tenure controversy

In 2005 Bradford accused Professor Florence Roisman of opposing his tenure because of some of his conservative views, and filed with the University Code of Academic Ethics charges against her and Professor Mary Mitchell, claiming that they had made racist remarks to him. The official reason given for his alleged denial of tenure was that Prof. Bradford was "uncollegial." The feud became a national one when Fox News and Front Page magazine, among others, continually reported on the controversy. Bradford claimed that his support of the Iraq War and his refusal to sign a letter in defense of Ward Churchill were contributing factors. "The presumption was that I've got to sign this thing because I'm an Indian, but I can't do that," he said. [1] Roisman has denied most of Bradford's claims [2] [3] and school administrators pointed out that Bradford never actually applied for tenure. Instead there was simply a straw poll to determine his possible future tenure: the vote was 10-5 in favor, which meant that five professors believed that Mr. Bradford had a low probability of receiving tenure. He did not get the unanimous votes his tenured colleagues typically received, although a unanimous vote is not required to be awarded tenure.

Resignation

On December 2, 2005, Susanah Mead, interim dean of the law school, released the following statement: "Professor William Bradford has resigned his position as associate professor at the IU School of Law – Indianapolis effective January 1, 2006 to pursue other employment opportunities and interests." Furthermore, in March 2006, the University's investigation of charges made against Mitchell and Roisman under the Code of Academic Ethics "found no evidence of discrimination on the part of Professors Mitchell and Roisman and concluded that they conducted themselves responsibly and honorably," according to another statement by Mead.