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Davis named Professor of the Year

Jun
26
2025
June 26, 2025
Frank Davis

Former public defender lauded for engaging students

During one of the final meetings of the quarter for his constitutional law course, Frank Davis engaged his students in a conversation about the recent Supreme Court deadlock over whether Oklahoma would be able to launch the nation’s first religious charter school.

The 4-4 deadlock, Davis explained, was due to the recusal of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who would have been the deciding vote. She recused herself likely because of her ties to the law firm representing the catholic school in the case.

Students were encouraged to discuss the case outcome and how it could have been handled differently for a different result. 

The lecture then segued into a discussion of the 6th Amendment, what Davis calls his favorite amendment.

“That’s why I was a public defender for 28 years,” he told his students. “The 6th Amendment.”

The amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees several rights to individuals facing criminal prosecution, including the right to a speedy and public trial, the right to an impartial jury, the right to be informed of the charges, the right to confront witnesses, the right to obtain witnesses, and the right to legal counsel. 

After nearly three decades of serving the people of Orange County as its public defender, Frank Davis retired last year and started what he calls his dream job: teaching criminology, law and society classes in the School of Social Ecology.

“I love it,” Davis said about teaching and mentoring.

Clearly, his students love him, too, and named him the school’s 2025 Professor of the Year. The following are excerpts from the student nominations:

“It is an absolute pleasure to recommend Professor Davis for Teacher of the Year. His dedication to his students and his craft is unmatched, making his classes not only informative but truly enjoyable...albeit a challenging course. Professor Davis has an exceptional ability to bring his material to life, with funny stories that help a student better understand and engage. He makes himself accessible and wants to see students succeed. What truly sets Professor Davis apart is his ability to connect with students. His real-world experience in the criminal justice field adds invaluable insight to his lectures. He has a very charismatic personality that allows students to engage without feeling embarrassed.”

“He's very patient in explaining things, relates things to the real/work world and makes material very engaging. He's very fair.”
“Professor Davis made me love studying the law as his lectures and personality are notable and enjoyable.”

“THE best professor who actually cares about his students and loves to teach, his classes challenged me to be a better student, his lectures are very interesting and are never boring.”

“It was my first time taking Frank Davis as a professor; he has made going to class fun. Every lecture is informative, and he is always connecting and talking to us. In his class, I have learned about important laws and cases that I was not aware of and I think he deserves this award because you can tell he loves teaching his subject.”

“Great lecturer, approachable, knowledgeable, wants students to learn something from his classes to use in the real world. Funny and engaging.”

“He is beyond compassionate about Criminal Justice and teaches with such a passion that it’s hard to not be engaged in his class. I am a student in his C122 this quarter and it is probably one of the most difficult classes but the way he presents the material keeps my attention throughout each and every class. There is no doubt he should be recognized as the Social Ecology Professor of the Year.”

Davis often has a long line of students waiting to speak with him during his office hours. About half seek to speak to him about the class and the other half are seeking advice about pursuing a law degree and becoming attorneys.

Davis received his B.A. in political science from Villanova University and his J.D. from California Western School of Law.

He held the title of director of the Orange County Alternate Public Defender's Office from 2013 through 2024. In that post, he was responsible for running the day-to-day operations of the criminal defense office for the indigent clients of Orange County. He hired and trained the staff
attorneys, supervised felony trial attorneys and decided attorney promotions. He also was part of the innovative Orange County Young Adult Court.

Past Professor of the Year recipients:

— Mimi Ko Cruz

Features
Department Affiliation
Criminology, Law & Society
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