Name: Justin Collings
BYU employee since: 2013
My job at BYU is... law professor and associate dean of the Law School. I teach students about constitutional law, and I help my dean keep the Law School running.
I’m currently working on... a constitutional biography of George Washington.
I’m currently reading... Robert Fagles’s translation of Homer’s "Iliad" and the Library of America collection of Alexander Hamilton’s writings. With individual family members, I’m reading "Joy in the Covenant" (with my wife); "War and Peace" (with my 17-year-old); "Portrait of a Lady" (with my 15-year-old); "Vanity Fair" (with my 13-year-old); "The High King" (with my 9-year-old); "Alice in Wonderland" (with my 7-year-old); the works of Dr. Seuss (with my 3-year-old); and the works of Sandra Boynton (with my 1-year-old).
My favorite part about teaching is... feeling the Spirit of the Lord in the classroom.
When I have 30 minutes of free time... you can find me reading or writing poetry.
I became a BYU fan when... my family moved to Provo, and my dad bought season tickets for BYU football. It was the 1989 season, and I was seven years old. I became a devoted admirer of Ty Detmer and an assiduous connoisseur of his every statistic. On September 8, 1990, when I was eight, I screamed myself hoarse in the bleachers of then-Cougar Stadium as Ty led the Cougars to a thrilling 28-21 victory over top-ranked Miami.
My favorite spot on campus is... the Maeser Building because of its stately architecture and the magical personal memories that surround it.
I chose to come to BYU because... I hoped to advance the university’s glorious mission and to give my students, if I could, something of the priceless experience my own BYU teachers gave to me.
The title of my autobiography would be... "Tired All My Life."
My favorite quote is... “In His city all things are made for each. When He died in the Wounded World He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.” —C.S. Lewis
If I could travel anywhere, I would go to... Italy (again) because part of my soul is there and always will be.
My favorite joke is... the next Dad Joke (preferably a pun) that I plan to concoct and inflict on my children.
