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News

Law prof draws praise

Mixon, who's been at UH since 1955, is known for his humor, 
distinctive drawings 

by MUBARAKA SAIFEE
The Daily Cougar

Students know him for his quirky drawings and colleagues know him for his longevity, but above all, professor John Mixon is known for his dedication to the UH Law Center. 

Mixon has taught at UH since 1955, making him the longest-teaching faculty member at the Law Center.

"(I) immediately went into teaching. The reason for that is that I was about to get drafted and one of the professors here left," Mixon said. "The dean of the law school called me up and asked whether I would be willing to teach for a year if he could get me a deferment. He got a deferment from the draft for a year. I taught that year, then I did three years in the military."

Born on a farm in northeast Texas during the end of the Great Depression, Mixon graduated from Stephen F. Austin College (now University) in 1952.

"I worked my way through college for an abstract and title company," Mixon said. "I came to Houston to go to law school. I went to work for an oil company and went to law school part time."

Mixon also holds a master's degree from Yale, where he was a Sterling Fellow from 1961 to 1962.

Mixon, who specializes in land finance and zoning law, enjoys traveling with his wife Judith, but teaching is the high point of his day-to-day life. 

Although he has won a number of awards, including excellence awards from the Order of the Barons, he finds teaching to be its own reward.

"Those are nice to get, but that's not something I get all excited about," Mixon said.

Mixon's unique style of lecturing incorporates shorthand notes that he draws on the blackboard before class. 

"One of the things I do different from ordinary law teaching is cartoons," Mixon said. "It provides my own notes so I don't have to take any notes into class. I just put my notes on the board."

Over the years, students and faculty have lauded Mixon for his approachable nature and devotion to his field.

"He is best known for his classroom rapport, which includes his self-effacing sense of humor and signature drawings, by which he strives to make something as complex as the law of contracts so simple that a fifth grader could understand it," the editors of The Houston Law Review wrote in a tribute to Mixon on his 50th anniversary of teaching in 2006.

Always concerned about raising the standards of the Law Center, Mixon was elated when the school was ranked 42nd in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of law schools in 1995, but he was just as upset when the Law Center bottomed out at 70th place last year. 

The Law Center, however, now ranks at 60th nationwide according to U.S. News & World Report.

While the school's rankings may fluctuate, Mixon's devotion to the University is unwavering.

"As both teacher and scholar, John has truly become a Law Center legend, a legend that keeps unfolding into the years that lie ahead," UH law professor Sidney Buchanan wrote in The Houston Law Review.
 

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