Elise C. Boddie

Elise C. Boddie serves as the James V. Campbell Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, where she teaches constitutional law, state and local government law, and civil rights. Her scholarship critically examines the regulation and production of race in spatial contexts and dynamic systems that perpetuate racial inequality, with work widely cited across academic and public spheres.

She earned a BA, cum laude, from Yale University, followed by a JD, cum laude, and MPP from Harvard University, establishing a foundation for her interdisciplinary approach to legal scholarship and practice.

Boddie's research spans Civil Rights, Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Race and the Law, and Criminal Law, with a concentrated focus on how spatial dynamics and institutional structures reinforce racial disparities. Her analysis bridges legal theory, social justice advocacy, and empirical research, particularly examining educational equity, policing practices, and systemic barriers to democratic participation.

Her scholarly impact is recognized through the John Hope Franklin Prize (2012) from the Law and Society Association for 'Racial Territoriality,' election to the American Law Institute (2017), and the American Bar Foundation Fellowship (2019), reflecting her influence on legal doctrine and public discourse.

As an educator and institutional leader, Boddie founded The Inclusion Project at Rutgers University—a multisector initiative engaging communities, educators, and policymakers to build equitable education systems in New Jersey—and has held pivotal roles including director of litigation for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, principal deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, and member of President Biden's Supreme Court Commission. Her public engagement extends to frequent national speaking engagements, media commentary in outlets like The New York Times, and participation in the BBC documentary 'The Black American Fight for Freedom.'