Frank M. McClellan is Emeritus Professor of Law of the Beasley School of Law of Temple University. A member of the law faculty since 1981, he continues to teach health law courses in the law school and lectures in a multi-disciplinary course in the medical school and a bioethics course in the Center for Urban Bioethics.
Education
A 1967 graduate of Rutgers College in New Brunswick, he joined the small number of Black students who matriculated at Rutgers in the 1960s to form the Student African American Society, and served as the first president of that organization. He earned his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law in 1970 where he was an editor on the Law Review and received a merit award for academic excellence for his writing. He was the only student of color in his law class at Duquesne, which helped motivate him to join with African American students in other schools in the university to form the first Black Student Union at Duquesne and serve as the first president of the BSU. Professor McClellan was the first recipient of the George D. Harris Award given by the BSU to an individual who contributed to the improvement of life for black students at Duquesne University. In 1974, he earned a LL.M. degree from Yale University and was awarded the prestigious Felix S. Cohen Prize in jurisprudence.
Teaching
Frank McClellan began teaching at Duquesne University Law School after serving a clerkship with William H. Hastie, Chief Judge of the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, and by working as an associate with the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering. He was promoted to full professor with tenure and remained on the Duquesne faculty until 1981, when he joined the law faculty of Temple University. From 1981 to the present, Professor McClellan has taught courses at Temple Law School on Torts, Medical Malpractice, and a seminar on Current Problems in Law and Medicine. Professor McClellan has also taught comparative law courses in Accra, Ghana, Athens, Greece, and Tokyo, Japan. He has lectured on health care law topics abroad, including Johannesburg, South Africa, Beijing, China, and Havana, Cuba.
Professional Honors
During his career as a faculty member, Professor McClellan has held endowed chairs and received a number of honors, including: Phyllis S. Beck Chair in Health Law (Temple University), Shusterman Alumni Award for Outstanding Faculty Service (Temple University), I. Herman Stern Chair for Excellence in Teaching (Temple University),
Friel-Scanlon Award for Outstanding Scholarship (Temple University), and the Lindback Award for Outstanding Teaching (Temple University). In 2010, Professor McClellan served as Garwin Distinguished Professor of Health Law at the University of Southern Illinois during the fall semester and delivered at that institution the Dr. Arthur Grayson Distinguished Lecture on the topic: Health Disparities, Race, and Health Care Reform.
Research and Publications
He is the author of a textbook titled Medical Malpractice: Law, Tactics and Ethics, co-author of a Torts casebook (currently in its fourth edition), and has published dozens of articles in professional journals as well as newspapers. Professor McClellan’s research and writing most recently has concentrated on health disparities based on race and class.
Litigation
Professor McClellan has extensive practice experience related to the regulation of drugs and devices, product liability, medical malpractice, risk management, health care financing, and bioethics. He has represented patients in hundreds of cases, litigated more than 20 complex medical malpractice and product liability cases to verdict, and argued numerous appeals before federal and state appellate courts. He has won several multi-million-dollar verdicts injury trials.
University Service
Professor McClellan served as Chair of Temple University’s Research and Awards Committee for five years and was responsible for selecting awards for outstanding scholarship throughout the university. In the law school, he has served as chair of major committees, including Admissions, Curriculum, Tenure and Promotion, Administrative, and Disciplinary. For five years he served as Law School Counsel for Temple University. Professor McClellan has also been an advisor to Temple Medical School, offering guidance on curriculum development and community relations, most recently as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities and as advisor to the Center for Urban Bioethics.
Community Service
For the past five years he has served as a member of the National Steering Committee of Movement is Life, a national coalition dedicated to addressing racial disparities in joint and bone health. Professor McClellan served for four years as member of the Heart Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health and as an advisor to the Institute of Medicine in its report on Health Literacy. He served a similar role for the Pennsylvania Department of Health in its study of health disparities. For three years he served as a member of the Ethics Committee of St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. For two decades he has been a member of the board of directors of nonprofit health care organizations such as The Aids Law Project of Pennsylvania, an organization that represents individuals with HIV/AIDS and their families, and To Our Children’s Future With Health, Inc., an organization that works with children and families in Philadelphia to address a wide range of social and health issues such as lead paint exposure, obesity and decision-making about sexual activity. He also served on the Board of Philadelphia Fight, a nonprofit that assists individuals with HIV/AIDS in navigating the health care system and enrolling in clinical trials.
Frank McClellan is married to Phoebe A. Haddon, Chancellor of Rutgers Camden, and has three adult children, Malik, Toussaint and Cara, and one grandchild, Linda.