Faculty Awards

The New Orleans gathering brought laurels for Field Placement Program Director Sue Schechter, Clinical Professor and Environmental Law Clinic Director Claudia Polsky ’96, Instructional & Educational Technology Librarian Kristie Chamorro, 3L Virginia Frausto-Elizarraraz, and the late Professor Philip Frickey.

The content includes featuring our seven new professors, our alumni’s huge impact in the entertainment industry, and new students’ varied motivations for choosing law school — and Berkeley.

Their wide-ranging work reflects the school’s deep commitment to public service that champions justice, equality, civil rights, transparency, fairness, and accountability.

Renowned corporate law attorney Kenton King ’87, health policy leader Tam Ma ’11, esteemed Professor Eric Rakowski, and public interest powerhouse Ann Brick ’75 receive Berkeley Law’s top honors.

Davis won the law school’s Rutter Award for Teaching Excellence, while Holmquist was recognized for “sustained excellence in teaching” with a Distinguished Teaching Award, given to five professors across the Berkeley campus this year. 

She’ll spend the fall semester in Germany working on a project about failure of international human rights law to adequately address the treatment of soldiers by their states.

From high-level national and state appointments to major honors demonstrating far-reaching legal expertise, our educators were recognized for their outstanding leadership, research, and analysis.

The bankruptcy scholar “goes above and beyond to ensure his students feel supported in their academic pursuits,” 2L Tara Kay says.

Twelve Pack: A dozen Berkeley Law homepage stories from 2022 that illustrate the school’s excellence, community, and public mission.

This year’s award recipients stand out among extraordinary individual and collective commitment across the legal landscape to improve people’s lives.

Students and colleagues hail the Berkeley Law professor, one of just five campus-wide winners this year, for his tireless preparation and passionate dedication. 

Atkinson says she’s thrilled to get the award, which recognizes an early-career academic who shares Ginsburg’s passion for justice.

Obasogie says he is “thrilled and grateful” to be one of this year’s 180 recipients of the prestigious fellowship.

“Eleanor is precisely the type of life-long evidence scholar, teacher, mentor, and role model who is deserving of the Wigmore Award,” one nomination reads. 

A dozen Berkeley Law community members, including nine students, are honored for their exemplary efforts providing legal help. 

Her herculean efforts to help the law school make Zoom learning work earned her UC Berkeley’s new Extraordinary Teaching in Extraordinary Times award.  

Present and past students hail Ross, a faculty member since 2010, for his dedication to teaching both inside and outside the classroom.

Kiki Tapiero ’20 and Alex Copper ’20 win Berkeley Law’s Pro Bono Champion award while Safa Ansari-Bayegan ’20 and Miguel Soto receive its Eleanor Swift Award for Public Service.

Tyler is widely revered for her commitment to teaching—and to her students’ aspirations. 

Zimring, a pioneering scholar in the study of violent crime for half a century, shares the prestigious Stockholm Prize in Criminology with UC Berkeley Ph.D. Philip Cook.

The school’s new faculty bring top credentials and a huge range of practice-area and doctrinal expertise.

Judge Holly Fujie ’78, James McManis ’67, Benson Cohen ’04, Barry Scheck ’74, and Professor David Lieberman are honored at the annual ceremony.

Students describe Bradt, a leading expert on federal multidistrict litigation, as a “brilliant instructor” and an “invaluable mentor.” 

They were honored with the annual Young Alumni Award, Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award, and Citation Award, respectively.

Friends share fond memories of Choper during a heartwarming ceremony dedicating Classroom 130 in his name.

The director of Berkeley Law’s Policy Advocacy Clinic is honored for his effective, community-driven teaching and research.

A key driver of Berkeley Law’s surging business law program, Bartlett cites clarity, relevance, and inclusiveness as his top classroom priorities.

Chetan Gupta ’16 LL.M. and Professors Paul Schwartz, Kenneth Bamberger, and Deirdre Mulligan are recognized for their seminal privacy scholarship.

Stern aims to show how the nation’s new judicial transparency is changing its practice of law.

Ted Lee ’59, Professor Stephen Sugarman, and Ann O’Leary ’05 receive awards for their exemplary work.

Linos will study an urgent global challenge: the European refugee crisis.

Charles Denton, Janice Kosel ’71 and Antonio Rossmann are honored for their service to the law school.

Each fellow receives up to $200,000 to fund significant research in the social sciences and humanities—the most generous stipend of its kind.

Professors Melissa Murray, Kenneth Bamberger, Christopher Tomlins, Sonia Katyal and Angela Onwuachi-Willig were feted at a recent ceremony.

The annual award honors a Berkeley Law educator who inspires students and demonstrates a deep commitment to teaching. 

Students hail her dedication and interest in them both as people and budding lawyers.

Herma Hill Kay, former dean of Berkeley Law and professor for more than 50 years, has received the Association of American Law Schools’ 2015 Triennial Award for Lifetime Service to Legal Education and the Law.

Michele Roberts ’80, John Phillips ’69, Eleanor Swift, and Tirien Steinbach ’99 are recognized for their talent, drive, and willingness to give back.