Bethany Berger

Bethany Berger is a Professor of Law and holds the Allen D. Vestal Chair in Law at the University of Iowa College of Law. She is a leading scholar in Federal Indian Law, Property Law, and legal history. Her academic career includes roles at Connecticut School of Law (as Wallace Stevens Professor) and Wayne State University Law School, with visiting appointments at Harvard Law School. She previously served as a Judge on the Southwest Inter-Tribal Court of Appeals (2005–2011).

Education:

• BA, Wesleyan University (1990, Phi Beta Kappa)
• JD, Yale Law School (1996)

Research Focus: Berger’s work integrates Indigenous rights, property theory, and historical legal analysis. She co-authored foundational texts including American Indian Law: Cases and Commentary, Felix S. Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law, and Property Law: Rules, Policies, and Practices. Her scholarship appears in top journals like Michigan Law Review and California Law Review.

Awards & Recognition: Elected to the American Law Institute (2014). Her research has influenced Supreme Court briefs and Congressional testimony.

Prior Work: Pre-academic roles included directing the Navajo and Hopi Nations’ Native American Youth Law Project and leading Advocates for Children of New York in education policy reform.