Daniel Hays Lowenstein (born May 10, 1943) is an emeritus professor at UCLA Law School and an expert in

election law Election law is a branch of public law that relates to the democratic processes, election of representatives and office holders, and referendums, through the regulation of the electoral system, voting rights, ballot access, election management b ...

. He was appointed by California governor Jerry Brown as the first chairman of the California Fair Political Practices Commission in 1974 and was Jerry Brown's Chief Deputy Secretary of State. He was elected to the National Governing Board of

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President L ...

in 1979 and has been a board member and a vice president of

Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights (ANR), founded in 1976, is an American member-supported 501(c)(4) tax-exempt non-profit national lobbying organization, based in Berkeley, California, "dedicated to nonsmokers' rights, taking on the tobacco industr ...

. He is also the co-author of the groundbreaking California Political Reform Act of 1974. Lowenstein is considered a pioneer in election law teaching and research, and was the founding editor of the Election Law Journal. His work has been widely studied and analyzed. In addition to his election law scholarship, Lowenstein has published commentary on literary works including Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" and Dickens' "Bleak House." He served for nine years as the chairman of the board of the Interact Theatre Company and is currently on the board of the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, both in Los Angeles. Lowenstein served as a doctoral dissertation supervisor of

Jurij Toplak Jurij Toplak (born 1977) is a constitutional scholar, university administrator, election law, and human rights expert. He is a recurring visiting professor at the Fordham University School of Law in New York. From 2016 to 2022 he served as the p ...

at University of Maribor. Since July 1, 2009, Lowenstein has been serving as the first director of UCLA's Center for the Liberal Arts and Free Institutions (CLAFI), which is intended to support teaching, research, and public discussion of the great works and achievements of western civilization. Lowenstein graduated from Yale University in 1964 and magna cum laude from

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 ...

in 1967. He is married to Sharon Yagi, who is originally from Watsonville, California. They have two sons, Aaron Lowenstein and Nathan Lowenstein who are both attorneys working in Los Angeles. Aaron is an attorney at Warner Brothers Television and Nathan is a founding partner of Lowenstein & Weatherwax LLP. Sharon has two siblings, Gayle Yagi Gotelli and Randy Yagi.

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External links

30 UCLA L. Rev. 936 (1982-1983)
Living people Yale University alumni Harvard Law School alumni UCLA School of Law faculty 1943 births American legal scholars The Bronx High School of Science alumni Academic staff of the University of Maribor {{US-legal-academic-bio-stub