Biography and expertise
Christopher R. Brown serves as Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at Texas State University, where he focuses on legal studies and public administration. He completed his undergraduate studies in History and Biology Phi Beta Kappa at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. As a graduate student he was awarded a fellowship to study German constitutional history at the Free University of Berlin. He completed graduate work in law and public administration at the University of Texas at Austin. Before arriving at Texas State University he served as a judicial clerk to the Texas Court of Appeals for the Eighth Judicial District, the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, litigated on behalf of the Texas Attorney General’s Office in federal and state courts, served as an air and water quality attorney for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, instructed third-year law students in Tulane Law School’s environmental law clinic, and worked on surface water environmental flow issues for the National Wildlife Federation.
Education
Special Professional Degree
JD in Law
University of Texas at Austin, 1996
Master's Degree
MPAFF in Public Affairs
University of Texas at Austin, 1996
Bachelor's Degree
BA in History
Biology
Northwestern University, 1986
Teaching Interests
Research Interests
Featured scholarly/creative works
- Brown, C. R. (2020). The Special Purpose District Reconsidered: The Fifth Circuit’s Recent Declaration that the Edwards Aquifer Authority is a Special Purpose District under the Voting Rights Act, and the Tortured History that Led to That Decision. Hastings Environmental Law Journal, 27(1). Retrieved from https://repository.uhastings.edu/hastings_environmental_law_journal.
- Rahm, D., Brittain, V., Brown, C., Garofalo, C., Rangarajan, N., Shields, P., & Yun, H. J. (2015). Exploring the demand for PhDs in public affairs and administration. Journal of Public Affairs Education, 21(1), 115–128.
- Brown, C. R. (n.d.). A Litigious Proposal: A Citizen’s Duty to Challenge Climate Change in the Courts. In P. G. Harris (Ed.), Ethics, Environmental Justice, and Climate Change (pp. 385–457). 10 Heatherley Road, Camberley, Surrey,GU15 3LW UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Brown, C. (2013). Proposed CAFO information Disclosure Rules and Their Potential to Improve Water Quality. Arizona Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, 4(5). Retrieved from https://www.ajelp.com
- Brown, C. (2013). Dairy Discharges: How Misguided Federal Decisions on Surface Water Quality Also Harm New Mexico’s Tributary Groundwater. New Mexico Law Review, 42(2).
Featured awards
- Award / Honor Recipient: Alpha Chi National Honor Society Favorite Professor, Alpha Chi National Honor Society. September 1, 2015 - Present
- Award / Honor Recipient: National First Place Winner, Cormac McCarthy parody fiction writing contest: "Not Cormac". January 1, 1999
- Award / Honor Recipient: Presidential Management Internship Program: accelerated honors program for federal agencies. January 1, 1995
- Award / Honor Recipient: International Parliamentary Debate Championship, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. January 1, 1993
- Award / Honor Recipient: Gibbs and Ratliff Endowed Moot Court Competition, University of Texas School of Law. January 1, 1992
Featured service activities
- Member
Scholarships and Awards Committee
- Co-Chair
Mock Trial Team
- Other
Bobcat Day
- Organizer
Inklings Presentation October 25, 2025: "Corporate Lysenkoism: Trump's EPA, the Endangerment Finding, and the Future of Climate Change Policy"
- Co-Chair
“Common Experience” and “Discourse in Democracy” Event: “Echoes of Flint: Water Quality Threats to Texas Cities.”
- Member
Rotary Club of Dripping Springs, Texas