Most of the 15,000 students Sam Hodge has taught in his 34 years at Temple probably know him only as the professor who can make dry court cases into theater.

What they are less likely to know is that Hodge, professor and chair of legal studies for the Fox School of Business, is a legal scholar in anatomy and law, and has almost single-handedly molded the department that they know today.

“When everybody thinks of me, they think of me for teaching,” said Hodge. “But there’s another side to me. [The Stauffer] award brings out that other side, and that’s what I’m really happy about.”

The award honors outstanding faculty service.

One can’t help but be impressed by the sheer volume of Hodge’s accomplishments. As chair of the legal studies department for 26 years, he is one of the longest-running chairs of any department at Temple. Anyone who has taken a legal studies class at the Fox School has most likely been taught by a professor hired by Hodge. In 1990, he won Temple’s Great Teacher Award.

And one will be hard-pressed to find another person in the legal community who is more committed to professional legal education. Hodge is a much-sought-after public speaker who talks to audiences around the country on anatomy and the law on a frequent basis.

He also founded the Fox School’s Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning to help make teaching at the school more effective and entertaining, and he serves as its director.

For Hodge, the center was a fitting undertaking. His course, “Law and Society,” isn’t just any introductory-level class — it’s one of the largest classes at Temple. More than 600 students a class learn about complex court cases through Hodge’s innovative methods, such as creating a theatrical family that finds its way in various legal troubles over the duration of the course, thus providing students with a streamlined presentation of highly complex real-life scenarios.

“I stepped up years ago to teach freshmen. I’ll do anything to convey the material,” said Hodge, whose unique methods have been profiled by The New York Times and the Chronicle of Higher Education. “I did it to keep people’s interest. It gives a cohesiveness throughout the semester.”

Outside the classroom, Hodge has educated students by organizing programs such as the Boot Camp for Music Entrepreneurs.

He also arranged for a day of court trials for the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania to be held at Temple – a first for both the school and the court – to give all interested Temple students a chance to see firsthand how a real-life trial works.

Said Hodge: “I’ve always believed that undergraduate education is the foundation of what we do.”

— Written by Andrew Thompson
For The Fox School of Business