Beth Cate

Beth Cate serves as Clinical Associate Professor at Indiana University's Paul H. O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, specializing in the intersection of law and public policy. She joined the faculty full-time in 2011 after 13 years as an adjunct instructor, leveraging 20 years of prior legal practice in public and private sectors. Her expertise spans intellectual property, data privacy, administrative law, compliance, and constitutional law.

Education:

• J.D., Cum Laude, Harvard Law School (1991)
• B.A., Summa Cum Laude, Economics, George Washington University (1988)

Professor Cate's research critically examines governance frameworks across cultural policy, arts administration, nonprofit management, and constitutional rights. Her work uniquely bridges data regulation with religious liberty in public institutions, analyzing Supreme Court privacy jurisprudence through lenses of digital civil liberties and historical constitutional interpretation. Current projects address student records privacy in the algorithmic age and systemic justice reform.

Her publication trajectory reveals deepening engagement with digital constitutionalism—from early cybersecurity law analysis to contemporary Supreme Court privacy scholarship—while maintaining consistent focus on religious freedom and data governance intersections. Recent works demonstrate methodological evolution toward interdisciplinary policy analysis combining legal doctrine with empirical justice system assessments.

Scientific Awards:

• Trustees Teaching Award (2013)
• Trustees Teaching Award (2014)

Professor Cate coordinates the undergraduate Law and Public Policy major while leading the core law curriculum, developing courses like Smartphones, Drones, and Unknowns: Information Law and Policy. Her professional service includes NEH-funded instruction on text data mining legalities and editorial roles with Harvard law journals. External collaborations include Oxford University workshops on intellectual property and National Association of College and University Attorneys conference presentations.