Professor wins Guggenheim fellowship for diversity in law


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Lee Epstein, the provost professor of law and political science at the Gould School of Law and at the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, was awarded the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship Thursday based on her scholarship on diversity among federal judges.

Each year, the fellows are appointed based on distinguished achievement and potential for future accomplishment. Fellowships typically support a scholar’s work for a 6-12 month period of time. Epstein is one of 175 recipients of this year’s fellowship.

“I’m honored to serve as a Guggenheim fellow and look forward to continuing my work on the role of diversity in the federal courts,” Epstein said in a statement.

Epstein, who will continue to teach at USC, currently holds the Rader Family Trustee Chair in Law. She specializes in the study of judicial decision-making, judicial appointments and legal research.

“I have long been an admirer of Professor Epstein’s outstanding scholarship in the areas of constitutional law, judicial behavior and the empirical analysis of legal institutions; she is the prototypical provost professor who combines insights from several disciplines to produce research of consequence,” said Elizabeth Garrett, the provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at USC, in a statement.

USC Gould Dean Robert K. Rasmussen said Epstein’s ability to educate is equally as strong as her scholastic pursuits.

“She is not only a brilliant scholar, she is an exceptional teacher who truly cares about her students and colleagues,” Rasmussen said.

Epstein was also the recipient of the Law and Courts Service Award from the American Political Science Association section and was selected as the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar for the 2013-14 academic year.