Lisa R. Pruitt

Lisa R. Pruitt is a Professor of Law at the UC Davis School of Law and holds the Brigitte Bodenheimer Research Scholar designation. She is also a Faculty Affiliate at the UC Davis Center for Poverty Research.

• Ph.D. (Laws) - University of London (1997)
• J.D. - University of Arkansas (1989)
• B.A. in Journalism - University of Arkansas (1986)

Professor Pruitt's research focuses on the legal and policy implications of income inequality across the rural-urban continuum, legal aspects of declining mobility, and the intersection of law with rural livelihoods. Her work reveals how economic, spatial, and social features of rural locales shape residents' encounters with the law.

Her recent scholarship explores critical whiteness studies within rural contexts, examining how rurality inflects dimensions of gender, race, and ethnicity. She challenges the conflation of rurality with whiteness while seeking a more nuanced understanding of rural and working-class whites in the Trump era.

Professor Pruitt has received numerous accolades including the Rural Sociological Society Excellence in Research Award (2021) and the UC Davis 2020 Distinguished Teaching Award. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute (since 2018) and has served in leadership roles at the Rural Sociological Society.

She previously worked internationally for nearly a decade with experience in cultural conflict negotiation across more than 30 countries. Her research has been cited in various media outlets including US News, Tulsa World, and Capital Public Radio.