Susan Sturm is the George M. Jaffin Professor of Law and Social Responsibility and the founding director of the Center for Institutional and Social Change at Columbia Law School. Her work focuses on building the capacity of people and institutions to tackle inequality, reduce discrimination, transform the justice system, and promote full participation in educational, legal, and cultural institutions.
Along with numerous scholarly publications, Professor Sturm is the author, with Lani Guinier, of Who’s Qualified: A New Democracy Forum on the Future of Affirmative Action. Her new book, entitled What Might Be: Confronting Racism to Transform Our Institutions, was published in February 2025 by Princeton University Press.
Professor Sturm collaborates with a wide variety of higher education, legal, artistic, government, criminal justice, and community-based organizations and networks involved in organizational and culture change. She is the co-designer of courses and workshops on Lawyer Leadership: Leading Self, Leading Others, Leading Change and Access to Justice for People in Prison. She is the architect and creator of the Centering Change Skills Hub, an online platform aimed at cultivating leadership and building the capacity to address race in law schools, court systems, and communities. She has served as the Vice President and Director of Policy for the Tony award winning Broadway Advocacy Coalition, and is the co-creator and instructor, with BAC, of Theater of Change: Reimagining Justice, a highly acclaimed course offered at Columbia Law School. Professor Sturm is an inaugural Provost Senior Faculty Teaching Scholar and the recipient of the Presidential Teaching Award for Outstanding Teaching at Columbia University.