Dean Schmitt’s scholarship uses constitutional history to illuminate and reevaluate contemporary questions of constitutional law. Drawing primarily on founding-era sources and nineteenth-century legal and political history, his research examines how the Constitution's original structure and historical development inform modern debates over federalism, state sovereignty, and judicial power. His work has focused on the extraterritorial reach of state power, Congress’s power over federal lands within a state, and how slavery shaped the development of constitutional law.
Dean Schmitt joined the faculty at the University of Dayton School of Law in 2016 and served as Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs from January 2020 to May 2025. As Assistant Dean, he helped to develop international relationships for the School of Law and to oversee its LL.M., M.S.L., and certificate programs. He primarily teaches Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, and Contracts.
Dean Schmitt has taught at the University of Toledo College of Law, Florida Coastal College of Law, and as a visiting professor at The Ohio State Moritz College of Law. He clerked for Judge Susan H. Black of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and Judge Timothy J. Corrigan of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. He also worked as an associate at Jones Day in Cleveland, Ohio.
Dean Schmitt graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as an essay editor on the Virginia Law Review. He received his bachelor's degree from Miami University.