Williams Institute Visiting Scholars

David B. Cruz returns to the Williams Institute after being the Institute's first Visiting Scholar in 2003. He is a Professor of Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law and President of the International Lesbian and Gay Law Association (2005-2009). Professor Cruz holds a B.S. in Mathematics, summa cum laude, and a B.A. in Drama, summa cum laude, from the University of California, Irvine; an M.S. in Mathematics from Stanford University; and a J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he was managing editor of the Law Review and first in his class at time of graduation. Prior to joining the USC faculty, he clerked for the Hon. Edward R. Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and worked in the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States (then, Drew S. Days, III). His primary areas of scholarship and practice are constitutional law and sex, gender, and sexual orientation law. Cruz is admitted to the bars of the State of New York and the United States Supreme Court, a past Chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues, and one of the General Counsel of the national American Civil Liberties Union. Professor Cruz is a member of Faculty Advisory Committee for the Williams Institute. He blogs at www.cruzlines.org.

 

Catherine Smith is the fifth Williams Institute Visiting Scholar. Professor Smith will be at the UCLA School of Law campus as part of the Williams Institute faculty during the 2009 spring semester in order to continue her research and writing on critical race theory and sexual orientation law.

Catherine Smith is an Associate Professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. After graduating from the University of South Carolina School of Law, Professor Smith clerked for the late Chief Judge Henry A. Politz of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and for U.S. Magistrate Judge William M. Catoe Jr. She then served as a legal fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center. Before joining the faculty at the University of Denver, Professor Smith was an Assistant Professor at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law from 2000 to 2004.

Professor Smith teaches Torts, Advanced Torts, and Employment Discrimination. Her research interests include torts, civil rights law, and critical race theory. Professor Smith's current work in progress is entitled "Straight Scrutiny," which explores how state and federal courts reinforce heterosexism in equal protection law by ignoring the racial and class diversity of the LGBT community in order to deny a "politically powerful minority" heightened scrutiny.
 

Professor Yuval Merin visited the Williams Institute as its third visiting scholar. He visited the UCLA School of Law as part of the Williams Institute faculty during the 2004 spring semester in order to continue his research and writing on gender, sexuality and the law.

Professor Merin received an LL.B. (J.D. equivalent, 1993) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a Masters of Laws, with a concentration in International and Constitutional Law (1997), and a Doctor of Judicial Science (2000), both from New York University School of Law.

Professor Peter Kwan visited the UCLA School of Law campus as part of the Williams Institute faculty during the 2003 fall semester in order to continue his research and writing on critical race theory and sexual orientation law.

Professor Kwan received both a Bachelor of Laws (1986) and a Bachelors of Arts (1987) from the University of Sydney; a Master of Laws (1993) from Columbia University; and a Master of Laws (1999) with honors from University of Sydney. 

Professor David B. Cruz is the Williams Institute's first Visiting Scholar. Professor Cruz was on the UCLA School of Law campus as part of the Williams Institute's faculty during the 2003 spring semester. His research and writing focused on sexual orientation law and public policy issues.

Professor Cruz received both a B.S. in Mathematics (1988) and a B.A. in Drama (1988) from UC Irvine; an M.S. in Mathematics from Stanford University; and a J.D. (1994) from New York University School of Law, where he was a Root Tilden Snow Scholar.