Daniel Kiel

Daniel Kiel serves as FedEx Professor of Law and Director of Faculty Development at the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, where he has taught since 2008. His courses include Property, Constitutional Law, and Education & Civil Rights, earning him the University's Distinguished Teaching Award in 2017.

Professor Kiel's educational background includes:

• J.D. from Harvard Law School (2004)
• B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin (2001)

His research centers on educational inequality along racial lines and constitutional questions of citizenship and justice. Through historical analysis and documentary work, he examines school desegregation's legacy and contemporary education reform challenges, particularly in Memphis and the American South. His methodology uniquely bridges legal scholarship with Law & Documentary Studies, evidenced by his award-winning film The Memphis 13.

Professor Kiel's publications reveal evolving focus from Memphis-specific desegregation studies (2008-2013) toward broader constitutional analysis, culminating in his 2023 book The Transition comparing Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas. Recurring themes include educational equity, structural racism, and post-disaster reform (e.g., Hurricane Katrina's impact on New Orleans schools).

His accolades include:

• Distinguished Teaching Award (University of Memphis, 2017)
• Fulbright Fellowship for South Africa research (2015)
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Human Rights Award (2013)
• Award for documentary film The Memphis 13

Beyond academia, Professor Kiel serves on boards for Facing History and Ourselves and Just City, and co-founded Common Ground Memphis. His 2010 appointment to the Shelby County Transition Planning Commission oversaw America's largest school district merger. Research has been supported by Fulbright and featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Education Week.

He leads community-engaged projects including the Benjamin Hooks Institute of Social Change (as former associate director) and the oral history initiative behind The Memphis 13, collaborating with museums and civil rights organizations nationwide.