Martha Minow

Martha Minow, Former Dean, Harvard Law School

Martha Minow is Dean Emerita of Harvard Law School and the Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence. An expert in human rights and advocacy for members of racial and religious minorities and for women, children, and persons with disabilities, she also writes and teaches about law, culture, and narrative. Her recent books include Government by Contract (co-edited, 2009) and Just Schools: Pursing Equality in Societies of Difference (co-edited, 2008). (For a list of Dean Minow’s books and publications, please visit her faculty page.) Ms. Minow served on the Independent International Commission Kosovo and helped to launch Imagine Co-existence, a program of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, to promote peaceful development in post-conflict societies. During a 5-year partnership with the Federal Department of Education and the Center for Applied Special Technology, she worked to increase access to the curriculum for students with disabilities. Her honors include the Sacks-Freund Teaching Award, selected by the Harvard Law School Class of 2005, the Holocaust Center Award, 2006, and an Honorary Doctorate of Law from the University of Toronto, 2006. Ms. Minow chairs the board of directors for the Revson Foundation (New York) and serves on the boards of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the Covenant Foundation (New York and Chicago), Facing History and Ourselves, and the Iranian Human Rights Documentation Center. In 2008, she served on advisory committees addressing legal policy and educational policy for the Obama campaign.