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David B. Cruz 2003
Williams Institute Visiting Scholar

Professor David B. Cruz is the Williams Institute's first Visiting Scholar. Professor Cruz will be on the UCLA School of Law campus as part of the Williams Institute's faculty during the 2003 spring semester in order to continue his research and writing 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.

Among his many academic distinctions are Managing Editor, New York University Law Review and the Paul D. Kaufman Memorial Award, which recognizes the law note of outstanding excellence published in the New York University Law Review. In addition to Phi Beta Kappa, he was both a Regents and National Merit Scholar. At graduation, he received the University Graduation Prize for the highest cumulative average. In addition, Professor Cruz received the Benjamin F. Butler Memorial Award for unusual distinction in scholarship, character, and professional activities, and was elected to the Order of the Coif. During law school, he also worked for the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. Following his graduation from law school, Professor Cruz served as a law clerk to Judge (now Chief Judge) Edward R. Becker of the U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. He then was a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General.

He joined the faculty of the University of Southern California Law School in 1996 and was promoted to Professor of Law in 2002. Professor Cruz is a member of the Law and Society Association, the National Lesbian and Gay Law Association, the Society of American Law Teachers, and the board of directors of the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center.

Recent Publications

• Disestablishing Sex and Gender, 90 Cal. L. Rev. 997 (2002)
• Just Don't Call It Marriage: The First Amendment and Marriage as an Expressive Resource, 74 So. Cal. L. Rev. (2001)
• The Sexual Freedom Cases?: Contraception, Abortion, Abstinence, and the Constitution, 35 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 299 (Summer 2000)
• Controlling Desires: Sexual Orientation Conversion and the Limits of Knowledge and Law, 72 So. Cal. L. Rev. 129 (1999)

See Professor Cruz's USC homepage | See complete list of Williams Institute Visiting Scholars