Established on 03.08.2021 by Eric B. Wolff ’95, Todd W. Rosencrans ’92, and other friends and students of Max Richardson
Dr. Max Wayne Richardson, long-time professor of political science at Concordia College, passed away Oct. 31, 2017, in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas. Those who worked with and learned from “Max” ―as he was fondly known to many―miss his Texas drawl, sparkling wit and chuckle, his great love of ideas, music, and movies, and his diverse life experience, all of which infused his teaching for 25 years at the college. Max joined Concordia’s political science department in 1990, serving as its chair from 1993-2005.
He advised hundreds of pre-law and political science students, supervised the mock trial team, encouraged students to participate in the Washington Semester program, and for many years headed opportunities for students to travel abroad in London, Paris, Nurnberg, Florence, and Rome. His political science, constitutional law, jurisprudence, and political philosophy classes were enormously popular.
Though not a lawyer himself, Max loved the law, lawyers, and judges, and especially all of the philosophy, politics, and drama that swirl about in legal cases. In 2001, he had the great pleasure of meeting and talking with Justice Antonin Scalia in his office at the United States Supreme Court because one of Max’s former students was a law clerk for Justice Scalia that year. Max held a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s in history from Texas Tech University, as well as a doctorate in political science from the University of Georgia, Athens. Before Concordia, Max was an English instructor with the Peace Corps in Libya and was present during the time of political unrest and uprising caused by the rule of Muammar Gaddafi. Max also taught in the Glen Rose school system in Texas and spent 20 years on the faculty at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota. Max retired in 2015 and returned to Texas with his wife, Dr. Lisa Lee Sawyer, who served for many years as a member of Concordia’s music faculty. In Lubbock, Max still found students to whom he could teach Plato’s Republic, and for visitors, he would take them to the Buddy Holly Museum and his favorite BBQ places. It is to honor and remember a unique and beloved teacher, mentor, and friend that his former students have created this scholarship in his memory.
The Dr. Max Richardson Student of the Law Endowed Scholarship is awarded to students of any major who are enrolled in Concordia’s Pre-Law Program.