Tomiko Brown-Nagin (born c. 1970) is an American law professor, historian, author, and university leader. She is dean of
Harvard Radcliffe Institute
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...
, one of the world’s leading centers for interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, and professions. She is also the Daniel P.S. Paul Professor of Constitutional Law at
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
and a
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
professor of history.
Early life and education
Brown-Nagin was born circa 1970.
She graduated from
Furman University
Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...
, where she was named a
Truman Scholar
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship is the premier graduate fellowship in the United States for public service leadership. It is a federally funded scholarship granted to U.S. undergraduate students for demonstrated leadership potential, academic ...
and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in history in 1992.
She earned a J.D. from
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by ''U ...
,
where she served as an editor of the ''
Yale Law Journal
The ''Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ), known also as the ''Yale Law Review'', is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students ...
'', in 1997, and a Ph.D in history from
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
in 2002.
Career
Brown-Nagin clerked for
Robert L. Carter
Robert Lee Carter (March 11, 1917 – January 3, 2012) was an American lawyer, civil rights activist and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Personal history and early life
...
of the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, and for
Jane Roth of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She began her career as a lawyer in private practice at
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (known as Paul, Weiss) is an American multinational law firm headquartered on Sixth Avenue in New York City. By profits per equity partner, it is the fifth most profitable law firm in the world.
...
in New York, and then held the Charles Hamilton Houston Fellowship at
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
and a Golieb legal history fellowship at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
. Brown-Nagin was the T. Munford Boyd Professor of Law and Justice Thurgood Marshall Distinguished Professor of Law at the
University of Virginia Law School
The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...
.
In 2018, Brown-Nagin assumed the role as dean of
Harvard Radcliffe Institute
The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...
,
one of the world’s leading centers for interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, and professions. She is also the Daniel P.S. Paul Professor of Constitutional Law at
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
and a professor of history at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. She has written about constitutional law and alleged inequality and has called on selective institutions of higher education to admit and financially support greater numbers of students who are the first in their families to attend college.
In 2011, Brown-Nagin published ''Courage to Dissent: Atlanta and the Long History of the Civil Rights Movement'', which won the 2012
Bancroft Prize
The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas.
It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...
in history, the Liberty Legacy Award from the
Organization of American Historians
The Organization of American Historians (OAH), formerly known as the Mississippi Valley Historical Association, is the largest professional society dedicated to the teaching and study of American history. OAH's members in the U.S. and abroad inc ...
, the John Phillip Reid Book Award from the
American Society for Legal History
The American Society for Legal History is a learned society dedicated to promoting scholarship and teaching in the field of legal history.
It was founded in 1956 and has an international scope, despite being based in the United States. It sponsors ...
, the Charles Sydnor Award from the
Southern Historical Association
The Southern Historical Association is a professional academic organization of historians focusing on the history of the Southern United States. It was organized on November 2, 1934. Its objectives are the promotion of interest and research in Sou ...
, the
Lillian Smith Book Award
Jointly presented by the Southern Regional Council and the University of Georgia Libraries, the ''Lillian Smith Book Awards honor those authors who, through their outstanding writing about the American South, carry on Lillian Smith's legacy of elu ...
from the
Southern Regional Council
The Southern Regional Council (SRC) is a reform-oriented organization created in 1944 to avoid racial violence and promote racial equality in the Southern United States. Voter registration and political-awareness campaigns are used toward this en ...
, and the
Hurston/Wright Legacy Award
The Hurston/Wright Legacy Awards program honors Black writers in the United States and around the globe for literary achievement. Introduced in 2001, the Legacy Award was the first national award presented to Black writers by a national organizatio ...
in the category of non-fiction.
In 2020, she was selected as a fellow of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...
. In 2022, Brown-Nagin published ''Civil Rights Queen: Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality'', which received praise from ''New York Times'', ''Washington Post,'' and several esteemed authors. It also has been featured by NPR, PBS, and Harvard Magazine.
In 2022, she was the recipient of the
Graduate School of Duke University The Graduate School of Duke University is one of ten graduate and professional schools that make up the university. Established in 1926, the Graduate School offers the degrees of Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Arts in Teaching, Master ...
's distinguished alumni award.
Personal life
In 1998, Brown-Nagin married
Daniel L. Nagin, a Harvard Law School professor.
Publications
* ''Civil Rights Queen:'' Constance Baker Motley and the Struggle for Equality (Pantheon Books 2022)
* "Constance Baker Motley Taught the Nation How to Win Justice", 2022 ''Smithsonian Magazine''
* "Rethinking Proxies for Economic Disadvantage in Higher Education", 2014 ''U. Chicago Legal Forum''.
* "Two Americas in Healthcare: Federalism and Wars over Poverty from the New Deal-Great Society to Obamacare," 62 ''Drake L. Review'' (2014).
* "The Diversity Paradox: Judicial Review in an Age of Demographic and Educational Change" 65 ''Vanderbilt Law Review'' En Banc 113 (2012)
* ''Courage to Dissent: Atlanta and the Long History of the Civil Rights Movement'' (Oxford University Press 2011).
* "Elites, Social Movements, and the Law: The Case of Affirmative Action", 105 ''Columbia Law Review'' 1436 (2005).
* "Race as Identity Caricature: A Local Legal History Lesson in the Salience of Intra-Racial Conflict", 151 ''University of Pennsylvania Law Review'' 1913 (2003).
References
External links
Official page at Harvard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown-Nagin, Tomiko
Living people
1970s births
20th-century African-American people
20th-century African-American women
21st-century African-American people
21st-century African-American women
African-American academics
African-American lawyers
African-American women lawyers
American university and college faculty deans
American women academics
American women lawyers
Bancroft Prize winners
Duke University alumni
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Furman University alumni
Harvard Law School faculty
Members of the American Philosophical Society
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison people
University of Virginia School of Law faculty
Women deans (academic)
Women legal scholars
Yale Law School alumni