Patricia J. Williams

Patricia J. Williams writes the monthly "Diary of a Mad Law Professor" column for The Nation. Her insightful columns address extensive issues of social justice, including the war on terror, race, ethnicity, gender, and all aspects of civil rights law, as well as bioethics and eugenics, forensic uses of DNA, and comparative issues of class and culture in the US, France, and Britain.

Williams holds the position of James L. Dohr Professor of Law at Columbia University School of Law. Her academic background includes degrees from Wellesley College and Harvard Law School. Her career also includes tenures on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin School of Law, Harvard University's Women's Studies Program, and the City University of New York Law School at Queens College. As a distinguished law professor, she has testified before Congress, contributed as a consultant and coordinator for a variety of public interest lawsuits, and previously served on the boards of organizations like the Center for Constitutional Rights and the National Organization for Women Legal Defense and Education Fund. Her contributions to legal scholarship and public service have been recognized with awards like the Alumnae Achievement Award from Wellesley, the Graduate Society Medal from Harvard, and the prestigious MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant.

Additionally, Williams has a robust history of public engagement beyond academia. She has written extensively for scholarly journals, popular magazines, and newspapers, including The New York Times Book Review, Tikkun, and Ms. magazine. Her profound impact on literary and social thought is evident in her books like "The Alchemy of Race and Rights," celebrated by The Village Voice Literary Supplement, and her more recent work, "The Blind Goddess: A Reader on Race and Justice," which critically examines the US's high rates of incarceration, especially among marginalized communities. Williams' expertise in law also extended into her earlier legal practice as a consumer advocate and deputy city attorney for the City of Los Angeles, and she has even ventured into filmmaking, with credits including writing and narrating the documentary "That Rush!".