Professor Patricia J. Williams Honored with AALS Impact Legacy Award

12.15.2025 —University Distinguished Professor of Law and Humanities Patricia J. Williams will receive the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Minority Groups’ Impact Legacy Award at the AALS annual conference in New Orleans in January. The award recognizes a legal educator who, in the course of their career, has had a sustained commitment to and transformative impact upon legal education, one or more legal systems, or social justice through teaching, public service, scholarship or other contributions.

One of the most provocative intellectuals in American law, Williams has published widely in the areas of race, gender, literature and law. Her many honors include a MacArthur Fellowship and the 2025 Windham-Campbell Prize for Nonfiction, one of the world’s most significant international literary awards, in recognition of her 2024 book, The Miracle of the Black Leg: Notes on Race, Human Bodies, and the Spirit of the Law (The New Press, 2024), an expansive and deeply humane collection of essays that explores the tricky places where history, law and identity collide. Her groundbreaking book The Alchemy of Race and Rights (Harvard University Press, 1992) was hailed by leaders of the academy and press, including a The New York Times review that asserted “Williams changed the voice of legal scholarship.”

“I feel so indescribably grateful, and deeply honored,” said Williams, who has authored six books and 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. For many years, she wrote a monthly column in The Nation.

In addition to the Impact Legacy Award, Williams will receive a second award at the AALS conference: the AALS Women in Legal Education Section’s 2026 Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Achievement Award, which honors women who have led distinguished careers in teaching, service and scholarship for at least 20 years and who have had an impact on women, the legal community, the academy and the issues that affect women through mentoring, writing, speaking, activism and by providing opportunities to others.

About Northeastern University School of Law

The nation’s leader in experiential legal education since 1968, Northeastern University School of Law offers the longest-running, most extensive experience-based legal education program in the country. Northeastern guarantees its students unparalleled practical legal work experiences through its signature Cooperative Legal Education Program. More than 1,100 employers worldwide in a wide range of legal, government, nonprofit and business organizations participate in the program. With a focus on social justice and innovation, Northeastern University School of Law blends theory and practice, providing students with a unique set of skills and experiences to successfully practice law.

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