February 18, 2010
Dean Spade, a leading voice on civil rights issues and founder of the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a nonprofit law collective that provides free legal services to transgender, intersex and gender non-conforming people who are low-income and/or people of color, has joined CUNY Law as the Haywood Burns Chair in Civil Rights.
Dean Spade
“We are thrilled that Dean has joined CUNY Law and that he will carry on the proud tradition of Haywood Burns, whose lifetime was committed to forging equality and justice for everyone,” said CUNY Law Dean Michelle J. Anderson.
Haywood Burns was CUNY Law’s second dean who died tragically in an automobile accident in South Africa in 1996. In his memory, the Law School established the Haywood Burns Chair in Civil Rights, which has enabled the School to host extraordinary lawyers, scholars and activists as visiting professors. “Dean’s scholarly work and activism create a tremendous opportunity for students. Through his teachings, they will learn more deeply about the intersections of poverty and justice for all,” said Dean Anderson. “He is an important presence at the Law School.”
Spade, an Assistant Professor at Seattle University School of Law, was recently awarded a Dukeminier Award for his 2008 article “Documenting Gender” and was selected to give the 2009-2010 James A. Thomas Lecture at Yale. Prior to joining the faculty of Seattle University, he was a Williams Institute Law Teaching Fellow at UCLA Law School and Harvard Law School, teaching classes related to sexual orientation and gender identity law and law and social movements.
The Sylvia Rivera Law Project, which Spade founded in 2002, operates on a collective governance model, prioritizing the governance and leadership of trans, intersex, and gender variant people of color.
Contact: Vivian Todini, Director of Communications, 718-340-4530
About CUNY School of Law: Based in Queens, NY, CUNY School of Law is the premier public interest law school in the country. It trains lawyers to serve the underprivileged and disempowered and to make a difference in their communities. CUNY Law consistently ranks among the top 10 law schools in the country in clinical education and has been recognized as being one of the top 10 public interest law schools nationwide. Its pedagogy has been heralded by the Carnegie Foundation for its integration of theory and practice. The Princeton Review ranks CUNY Law as having the fourth most diverse law faculty in the nation. It also ranks CUNY Law in the top10 in the nation for best professors, most welcoming to older students, and most liberal student body.
