Patricia Williams

Patricia Williams is University Distinguished Professor of Law and Humanities at Northeastern University, where she also serves as the director of the Law, Technology, and Ethics Initiatives in the School of Law and the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. A prominent scholar in the areas of race, gender, literature, and law, Williams has published extensively on the intersection of these fields. Her influential books, including The Alchemy of Race and Rights (Harvard University Press, 1991), address America’s complex societal issues, challenging socio-legal constructs of race and gender. Building on her prior work exploring race, gender, and personhood, her current research explores critical questions of individual autonomy and identity in the context of legal and ethical debates surrounding science and technology. Williams has authored hundreds of essays, book reviews, and articles for leading journals, popular magazines, and newspapers, including The Guardian, Ms., The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post.