Professor Ian Haney López has been named the American Bar Foundation (ABF) 2021-22 William H. Neukom Fellows Research Chair in Diversity and Law. Haney López is the Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Public Law at the University of California Berkeley Law School, where he teaches race and constitutional law. He specializes in Critical Race Theory and is a leading thinker on the evolution of racism since the 1960’s civil rights era.
In the past decade, Haney López has studied the use of racism as a class weapon in electoral politics. As Neukom Chair, he will examine Latino voting participation, with a particular focus on their response to racialized rhetoric that demonizes “illegal aliens.” His project will study the connection between electoral rhetoric and racial identity, as well as the link between racial beliefs and public policy.
“I am excited to work alongside the amazing group of scholars at the ABF during my time as Neukom Chair,” said Haney López. “I look forward to the collaborative nature of the ABF’s academic environment and working together towards innovative and pathbreaking scholarship.”
The William H. Neukom Fellows Research Chair in Diversity and Law was established in 2014. Since 2015, the Chair has been held annually by a leading international legal scholar who spends the academic year as a Visiting Research Professor at the ABF, and whose scholarship focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The Chair leads empirical and interdisciplinary research at the ABF on law and legal processes related to issues of diversity and inequality experienced by women, people of color, people with disabilities, and persons from the LGBTQ+ community. The work of the Chair builds on the ABF’s robust law and diversity research program and fosters collaboration among the community of scholars and legal practitioners concerned with these issues.
“The ABF is excited to welcome Professor Haney López as our incoming Neukom Chair. As an expert on race, law and American politics, Ian will continue to build upon the principles and values of the Neukom Research Chair in Diversity and Law,” said Ajay K. Mehrotra, ABF Executive Director and Research Professor.
Haney López has published four books and two anthologies. He has been a visiting professor at both Yale and Harvard University. In his latest book, Merge Left (2019), Haney López reported on his work with communication specialists and pollsters to develop an effective Democratic response and explained Donald Trump’s complex relationship with dog whistling. In Dog Whistle Politics (2014), he detailed the fifty-year history of coded racism in American politics. He has co-chaired the AFL-CIO’s Advisory Council on Racial and Economic Justice, co-founded the Race-Class Narrative Project, and created the Race-Class Academy. Haney López received his M.P.A. from Princeton University and his J.D. from Harvard University.
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About the American Bar Foundation
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is the world’s leading research institute for the empirical and interdisciplinary study of law. The ABF seeks to expand knowledge and advance justice through innovative, interdisciplinary, and rigorous empirical research on law, legal processes, and legal institutions. To further this mission the ABF will produce timely, cutting-edge research of the highest quality to inform and guide the legal profession, the academy, and society in the United States and internationally. The ABF’s primary funding is provided by the American Bar Endowment and the Fellows of The American Bar Foundation.