It’s starting to seem like the Civil War. Chapman University has just made its fourth raid on Virginia’s George Mason University’s faculty, this time snagging a constitutional law scholar. Officials just announced that Ronald Rotunda will be leaving to join the Chapman faculty.
His wife, Kyndra Rotunda, 34, will also be joining the Chapman faculty.
Rotunda, 63, said today that he never thought of coming to Chapman until he was recruited by John Eastman, dean of Chapman’s law school.
“It’s a school that’s moving on up and moving very fast,” Rotunda said, explaining his decision to relocate to California. “It’s the only law school with a Nobel Prize-winner on the faculty. It’s exciting to be at a school that’s going in the right direction.”
Rotunda said he expects to move to Orange County in late July or early August, after he finishes the mammoth annual task 
of updating his constitutional law textbook to reflect the recent Supreme Court decisions from May and June.
Rotunda said he likes the small-town atmosphere of the historic district in Orange, where Chapman is located. He also jokingly cited the “Italian influence” at Chapman: President Jim Doti’s family is from Italy, Chancellor Daniele Struppa is Italian and so is Rotunda’s family.
The exodus of faculty from George Mason, including Struppa, Nobel Prize-winner Vernon Smith and his team of experimental economists, and, most recently, nationally prominent team of scientists, is a “good sign,” Rotunda said.
“I won’t leave my friends, I’ll take them with me,” Rotunda said. “Like in one of those sitcoms where they change cities and everyone else comes along too.”
For students who want to curry favor with their new professor, he says he has one weakness: Chocolate. He also likes science fiction and country music. Here he is from about 10 years ago, with a familiar face.
Here’s the official announcement press release from Chapman.
