Rick Hasen, a UCLA School of Law professor and one of the nation’s leading authorities on election law, voting rights and the preservation of democracy, was named the 2024 recipient of the David W. Peck Senior Medal for Eminence in the Law. Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Indiana, presents the honor each year to scholars and professionals in recognition of their longtime contributions to the field at the highest level.

Hasen received the award and delivered the prestigious Peck Lecture – a talk titled “How Can We Safeguard American Democracy?” – at the college on April 18. He also participated in a dinner where he met with interested students, faculty members, alumni and others.

“We are especially excited this year to welcome back to Wabash many prior Peck Medal winners to this 50th anniversary celebration of the Peck Dinner,” Scott Himsel, Wabash College’s associate professor of political science and pre-law advisor said in a statement before the event. “And we could have no better speaker in this contentious election year than Professor Rick Hasen.”

Hasen is a 1991 graduate of UCLA Law and a professor of law and political science. He is the founding director of the law school’s Safeguarding Democracy Project, which he launched in 2022 as the hub of scholarship on an issue that remains at the forefront of the national conversation. A go-to authority on election law for courts, scholars and the press, he is a regular commentator on voting and the state of national political affairs, including contributions to leading outlets such as CNN, NBC, NPR, Slate, PBS and The New York Times.

His latest book, A Real Right to Vote: How a Constitutional Amendment Can Safeguard American Democracy (Princeton University Press, 2024), was published earlier this year to broad attention and acclaim.

Read a Q&A with Hasen about his new book and how to protect voting rights.