- Director's Office
Martha Minow has taught at Harvard Law School since 1981, where she served as dean for eight
years. An expert on constitutional law, human rights, and legal advocacy for marginalized
individuals and groups, Minow’s many books include Saving the News: Why The Constitution
Calls for Government Action to Preserve the Freedom of Speech (2021); When Should Law
Forgive? (2019); In Brown’s Wake: Legacies of America’s Constitutional
Landmark (2010); Partners, Not Rivals: Privatization and the Public Good (2002); and
Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History After Genocide and Mass
Violence (1998). Recent publications include “Distrust of Artificial Intelligence: Sources and
Responses from Computer Science and Law,” with Cynthia Dwork, Daedalus (2022),
https://www.amacad.org/sites/default/files/publication/downloads/Daedalus_Sp22_22_Dwork-%26-Minow.pdf, and “Social Media, Distrust, and Regulation,” with Newton Minow, Nell
Minow, and Mary Minow, in Lee. C. Bolling and Geoffrey R. Stone, eds., Social Media,
Freedom of Speech, and the Future of Our Democracy (2022).
Minow serves as chair of the board of directors for the MacArthur Foundation and co-chair of
the Access to Justice project of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; previously she has
served on the Center for Strategic and International Studies Commission on Countering Violent
Extremism and on the Independent International Commission Kosovo. Her five-year partnership
with the federal Department of Education and the Center for Applied Special Technology worked to increase access to the curriculum with digital resources for students with disabilities and resulted in legislative initiatives and a voluntary national standard opening access to curricular materials for individuals with disabilities.
Her honors include the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women in
Legal Education section of the American Association of Law Schools (2024); the Freedom of the
Press Career Achievement Award from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
(2023), the Sargent Shriver Equal Justice Award (2016); the Joseph B. and Toby Gittler Prize,
Brandeis University (2016); and nine honorary degrees (in law, education, and humane letters)
from schools in three countries.