Maxfield Family Distinguished Speaker Fund

Peter C. Maxfield set a fine examples for all new professors coming to the University of Wyoming College of Law. He was generous in conversing with people about teaching, scholarship, and other academic matters. He did not simply advocate fine teaching, he practiced it. Furthermore he did not merely advocate the production of scholarship by others – he was a prodigious producer of such scholarship himself. Peter’s outstanding intellectual capacity, high energy, and dedication were demonstrated by the great versatility of his teaching and scholarship.
When Peterw as the Dean, he wanted the College to achieve a greater excellence than it already possessed.
He once joked that he wanted us to be a law school that the football team could be proud of. It was clear that he valued excellence in both teaching and scholarship, and his actions as Dean reflected those values. He
worked to provide summer research grants for faculty and other incentives for meritorious performance as teachers and scholars. He initiated and successfully
guided the efforts of our College of Law to attain an Order of the
Coif chapter. He had a willingness to bring speakers to campus to enrich our lives and stimulate our thoughts. It is my belief that our College of Law, already a fine one, became even better during his Deanship. Peter was a great friend, teacher, scholar, Dean, citizen, and humanitarian.