Professor Onwuachi-Willig joins over 250 Outstanding Individuals in Being Elected to the Academy in 2021
AMHERST, Mass. – LSA Board of Trustee representative Angela Onwuachi-Willig was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, as announced by the organization on Thursday. She is one of 252 new members to join the prestigious Academy in 2021. Onwuachi-Willig is a seven-year LSA member and serves as the Dean and Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law.
The American Academy of Arts & Sciences was established in 1780 by the country’s founders to provide guidance to a young nation that would face challenges and need expertise and excellence to emerge stronger. While the founders did not anticipate a year with a historic pandemic, overdue racial reckoning, and political strife, the purpose of electing new members is more compelling than ever.
The 2021 election provides an opportunity to recognize extraordinary people who help solve the world’s most urgent challenges, create meaning through art, and contribute to the common good from every field, discipline and profession.
Professor Onwuachi-Willig is a leading scholar of law and inequality. Her scholarship focuses on race, gender, class inequalities, employment discrimination, affirmative action and family law. She is the winner of numerous accolades, including LSA’s 2018 John Hope Franklin, Jr., Prize and is widely published across the field of law and society.
Onwuachi-Willig has been proactive in calling attention to racism in higher education and beyond. As Dean of BU’s law school, she posted a remarkable open letter to her students in June, 2020, amidst the death of George Floyd and police brutality. She has since had numerous media appearances on the topics of seeking racial justice and equality.
To view the complete list of the Academy’s Class of 2021 elected members, click here.