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University Distinguished Lecture

Ruth Colker

Ruth Colker holds the Heck-Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law at the Moritz College of Law. She earned B.A. and J.D. degrees from Harvard University. After graduating from law school, she worked as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice. She has also taught at the law schools of Tulane University, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Toronto, as well as in the graduate program in women's studies of George Washington University.

Professor Colker has published widely in the fields of feminist theory, constitutional law, and disability studies. Her work has appeared in the top law reviews, such as Harvard, Yale, Columbia, California, Duke, Michigan, Northwestern, New York University, UCLA, and Ohio State. Two of her books have won prestigious awards.

She is the co-author (with Bonnie P. Tucker) of the leading casebook on the Americans with Disabilities Act. She is frequently interviewed by the media, particularly National Public Radio, for her interpretation of recent judicial decisions in the areas of disability discrimination or constitutional law.

With the support of the Center for Law, Policy, and Social Science at the College of Law and the USX Foundation, Professor Colker has conducted empirical work on legal issues. Her work on the ADA has stimulated other scholars to investigate further why defendants disproportionately prevail in ADA appellate litigation.