Background

Frederick M. Lawrence was born in 1955 in Port Washington, New York, United States. He is the son of Joseph Lawrence and Beatrice Lawrence.

Education

In 1973 Frederick M. Lawrence graduated from Paul D. Schreiber High School. In 1977 he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Williams College. In 1980 Lawrence obtained a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School, Yale University.

Career

From 1979 to 1980 Frederick M. Lawrence was the editor of Yale Law Journal at Yale Law School. From 1980 to 1981 he was a judicial clerk for Honorary Amalya L. Kearse, Circuit Judge at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. From 1981 to 1983 he served as an associate at Kramer, Levin, Nessen, Kamin & Soli, law offices.

From 1983 to 1988 Lawrence worked as an assistant United States attorney for the southern district of New York, and chief of the Civil Rights Unit from 1986 to 1988. In 1988 he was an adjunct associate professor of law at the Fordham University School of Law. From 1988 to 1994 he was an associate professor at Boston University School of Law, became a professor of law in 1994, an associate dean for Academic Affairs from 1996 to 1999.

From 2005 through 2010, Lawrence was Dean and Robert Kramer Research Professor of Law at the George Washington University Law School. Lawrence became the eighth president of Brandeis University on January 1, 2011, serving until 2015. In 2015, Lawrence returned to Yale Law School as a distinguished research scholar. The following year, he was appointed secretary and chief executive officer of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, where he still serves.

Lawrence serves on the National Commission of the Anti-Defamation League, the Board of Trustees of Beyond Conflict, and the Advisory Board of RANE (Risk Assistance Network + Exchange) and has been a Trustee of Williams College and WGBH.

He is the author of Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes Under American Law (1999), which examines bias-motivated violence and the laws governing how such violence is punished in the United States. He has also written and edited numerous books and articles on constitutional law. Lawrence is an opinion contributor to The Hill and U.S. News & World Report and frequently contributes opinion pieces to Newsweek, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Observer, The New York Daily News, and The Huffington Post.

Achievements

• Frederick M. Lawrence is one of the nation’s leading experts on civil rights, free expression, and bias crimes. During his tenure at George Washington University Law School, he brought in the strongest five classes in the law school's history and led five of its most effective years of fundraising, despite historically challenging economic conditions. He recruited an impressive number of new faculty members with expertise in a range of areas, from international courts and tribunals to environmental law. Lawrence also increased financial aid, expanded facilities, opened doors to faculty endowments, and sought new programmatic possibilities nationally and internationally.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Home Schooling: Status and Bibliography

    (From left to right on the political spectrum, there is at...)

    2007
  • Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes under American Law

    (Bias crimes are a scourge on our society. Is there a more...)

    1999

Views

Frederick M. Lawrence has been a strong advocate for free expression and civil rights enforcement, as well as fighting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement through dialogue, respect, and understanding.

Membership

Frederick M. Lawrence is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Law Institute.

Personality

Frederick M. Lawrence enjoys hiking, old movies, professional sports, and singing.

Interests

• hiking, old movies, singing

Connections

Frederick M. Lawrence is married to Kathy Lawrence. They have two children, Miriam and Noah.

Father:

Joseph Lawrence

Mother:

Beatrice Lawrence

Spouse:

Kathy Lawrence

Daughter:

Miriam Lawrence

Son:

Noah Lawrence

References

• Contemporary Authors
  2010
• The Facebook page of Frederick M. Lawrence