Kimberlé W. Crenshaw

Kimberlé W. Crenshaw is a faculty member at Columbia Law School and the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. At Columbia, she holds the Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law title and directs the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies. At UCLA, she serves as the Promise Institute Chair in Human Rights and Distinguished Professor of Law.

Her research focuses on critical race theory, intersectional feminism, and the dynamics of race, racism, and the law. She has pioneered studies on the school-to-prison pipeline for African American children and the criminalization of Black teenage girls' behavior.

• Key Contributions:
  • Co-founded the African American Policy Forum
  • Author of foundational texts including Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement (1996) and Say Her Name: Black Women’s Stories of Police Violence and Public Service (2023)
• Education:
  • Bachelor’s from Cornell University
  • J.D. from Harvard Law School
  • LL.M. from University of Wisconsin

Scientific Awards:

• 2024: Recipient of Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois Medal, the university’s highest honor in African and African American studies.