
Angela Onwuachi-Willig
Dean
Ryan Roth Gallo Professor of Law
BA, Grinnell College
JD, University of Michigan Law School
MA, Yale University
M Phil, Yale University
PhD, Yale University
Biography
Angela Onwuachi-Willig is dean and Ryan Roth Gallo Professor of Law at Boston University School of Law. A renowned legal scholar and expert in critical race theory, employment discrimination, and family law, she joined the law school as dean in August 2018.
Before joining the School of Law, Dean Onwuachi-Willig served as Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Previously, she taught at the University of Iowa College of Law, where she was the Charles and Marion Kierscht Professor and at the University of California, Davis, King Hall, where she was acting (assistant) professor of law. As a classroom teacher at her previous institutions, she taught employment discrimination, evidence, family law, critical race theory, and torts.
Dean Onwuachi-Willig is an elected member of the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Law Institute (ALI), American Bar Foundation, as well as the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers. She is the author of According to Our Hearts: Rhinelander v. Rhinelander and the Law of the Multiracial Family (Yale 2013). Her articles have appeared in leading law journals such as the Yale Law Journal, Virginia Law Review, Northwestern University Law Review, California Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Texas Law Review, UCLA Law Review, and Vanderbilt Law Review, to name a few.
Onwuachi-Willig is the recipient of numerous awards, including the EXTRAordinary Woman in Boston Award (2019), the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Clyde Ferguson Award (2015), the AALS Derrick Bell Award (2006), the Gertrude Rush Award (2016) from the Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys and the Iowa Chapter of the National Bar Association, and Law and Society’s John Hope Franklin, Jr., Prize (2018). Along with her coauthor Mario Barnes, she is the first faculty member to win both the Ferguson and Bell Awards. In the 2017–18 academic year, Onwuachi-Willig served as the William H. Neukom Fellows Research Chair in Diversity and Law at the American Bar Foundation. Most recently, she was one of five black women deans to receive the inaugural AALS Impact Award in recognition of their work in collating the Law Deans Antiracist Clearinghouse Project in 2021.
Dean Onwuachi-Willig serves on the Grinnell College Board of Trustees, the Law School Admissions Council Board, the Purple Campaign to End Sexual Harassment Advisory Board, and the Board and Executive Committee of the Law and Society Association. She serves on Senators Warren and Markey’s Judicial Selection and U.S. Attorney Selection Committees; is a member of the AALS Law Deans Section Executive Committee, the AALS Deans Steering Committee, and the Law Deans Advisory Committee to U.S. News and World Report; serves on the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) Standing Committee on Lawyer Well-Being while chairing the Law School Subcommittee; and chairs the SJC Committee on Character and Fitness. She also served as the the chair for AALS Committee on the Recruitment and Retention of Minority Law Teachers and Students for two years, leading the committee as it drafted and developed an official Statement of Good Practices on the Recruitment and Retention of Minority Law Teachers. She also is the founder of the Lutie A. Lytle Black Women Law Faculty Workshop, which has resulted in the production of many books and hundreds of articles and essays by its participants and has assisted dozens of women on the path to tenure.
Media Inquiries: Kim Miragliuolo kmira@bu.edu
- Profile Types
- Dean's Office, Faculty, Full-Time Faculty, Professors & Clinical Instructors, and Staff
- Areas of Interest
- Civil Rights, Critical Race Theory, Employment Law, Evidence Law, Family Law, Gender Matters, Race and Law, and Torts
- Profiles
- Angela Onwuachi-Willig
Publications
Scroll left to right to view all publications
-
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, The CRT of Black Lives Matter 66 Saint Louis University Law Journal (2022)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Anthony V. Alfieri, Racial Trauma in Civil Rights Representation 120 Michigan Law Review (2022)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Jonathan Feingold, Critical Race Judgments: Rewritten U.S. Court Opinions on Race and Law (2022)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Kathryn Zeiler, A Guide to Preparing Law Students and Rising Lawyers to Thrive in Law School, the Legal Profession, and Beyond (2022)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Keep Passing the Baton: Reflections on the Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg 44 Thomas Jefferson Law Review (2021)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, The Intersectional Race and Gender Effects of the Pandemic in Legal Academia 72 Hastings Law Journal (2021)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Anthony V. Alfieri, (Re)Framing Race in Civil Rights Lawyering 130 Yale Law Journal (2021)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, The Trauma of Awakening to Racism: Did the Tragic Killing of George Floyd Result in Cultural Trauma for Whites? 58 Houston Law Review (2021)
Scholarly Commons -
Jasmine Gonzales Rose & Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Race, Rights, and Redemption: The Derrick Bell Lectures on the Law and Critical Race Theory (2021)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Kathryn Zeiler, A Guide to Law Student Wellness and Well-Being (2021)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Harassment Because of Sex: Meritor Savings Bank, FSB v. Vinson, 477 U.S. 57 (1986) Judgment, in Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Employment Discrimination Opinions (Ann C. McGinley and Nicole Buonocore Porter,2020)
Scholarly Commons -
Brief of Amici Curiae Scholars of the Constitutional Rights and Interests of Children in Support of Respondents
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & JoAnne Sweeney, Intersectional Approaches to Appearances: Jespersen v. Harrah's Operating Co., 444 F.3d 1104 (9th Cir. 2006) (en banc) Judgment, in Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Employment Discrimination Opinions (Ann C. McGinley and Nicole Buonocore Porter,2020)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Reconceptualizing the Harms of Discrimination: How Brown v. Board of Education Helped to Further White Supremacy 105 Virginia Law Review (2019)
Scholarly Commons -
David Oppenheimer, Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Nancy Leong, Affirmative Action 20 Berkeley Journal of African-American Law & Policy (2019)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin: The Persistence of White Womanhood and the Preservation of White Manhood 15 Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race (2018)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, What About #UsToo?: The Invisibility of Race in the #MeToo Movement 128 Yale Law Journal Forum (2018)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Ifeoma Ajunwa, Combating Discrimination Against the Formerly Incarcerated in the Labor Market 112 Northwestern University Law Review (2018)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, From Loving v. Virginia to Washington v. Davis: The Erosion of the Supreme Court's Equal Protection Intent Analysis 25 Virginia Journal of Social Policy & the Law (2018)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Mark Hatzenbuehler, Javier Flores & Joesph Cavanaugh, Anti-bullying Policies and Disparities in Bullying: A State-Level Analysis 53 American Journal of Preventative Medicine (2017)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, The Promise of Lutie A. Lytle: An Introduction to the Tenth Annual Commemorative Lutie A. Lytle Black Women Law Faculty Workshop Iowa Law Review Issue 102 Iowa Law Review (2017)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Extending the Normativity of the Extended Family: Reflections on Moore v. City of East Cleveland 85 Fordham Law Review (2017)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Policing the Boundaries of Whiteness: The Tragedy of Being “Out of Place” from Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin 102 Iowa Law Review (2017)
Scholarly Commons -
Brief of Amici Curiae Scholars of The Constitutional Rights and Interests Of Children in Support of Respondents in Masterpiece Cakeshop LTD, et al v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
Scholarly Commons -
Rebecca Bruening, Rosaura Orengo-Aguayo, Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Marizen Ramirez, Implementation of Anti-bullying Legislation in Iowa Schools: A Qualitative Examination of School Administrators’ Perceived Barriers and Facilitators 17 Journal of School Violence (2017)
Scholarly Commons -
Kristen Konrad Tiscione & Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Rewrite of Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, 477 US 57 (1986), in Feminist Judgments: Rewritten Opinions of the United States Supreme Court (Kathryn M. Stanchi, Linda L. Berger & Bridget A. Crawford,2017)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, The Trauma of the Routine: Lessons on Cultural Trauma from the Emmett Till Verdict 34 Sociological Theory (2016)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Marizen Ramirez, Corinne Peek-Asa & Joseph Cavanaugh, Evaluation of Iowa’s Anti-Bullying Law 3 Injury Epidemiology (2016)
Scholarly Commons -
Mario Barnes, Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Erwin Chemerinsky, Judging Opportunity Lost: Race-based Affirmative Action and Equality Jurisprudence After Fisher v. University of Texas, in Controversies in Equal Protection Cases in America: Race, Gender and Sexual Orientation (2016)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Mario Barnes & Erwin Chemerinsky, Judging Opportunity Lost: Assessing the Viability of Race-Based Affirmative Action After Fisher v. University of Texas, Austin 62 UCLA Law Review (2015)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Alexander Nourafshan, From Outsider Status to Insider and Outsider Again: Interest Convergence Theory and Normalization of LGBT Identity 42 Florida State University Law Review (2015)
Scholarly Commons -
Maritza Reyes, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Stephanie Wildman & Adrien Wing, Reflections on Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia Symposium — The Plenary Panel 29 Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice (2014)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & William Kidder, Still Hazy After All These Years: The Lack of Empirical Evidence and Logic Supporting Mismatch 92 Texas Law Review (2014) (book review)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, A Room with Many Views: A Response to Essays on According to Our Hearts: Rhinelander v. Rhinelander and the Multiracial Family 16 Journal of Gender, Race & Justice (2013)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, According to Our Hearts: Rhinelander v. Rhinelander and the Law of the Multiracial Family (2013)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, More Hair-Raising Decisions, and How Professor Wendy Greene Combs Through Their Flaws JOTWELL (2013)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, On Derrick Bell as Pioneer and Teacher: Teaching Us How to Have the Nerve 36 Seattle University Law Review (2013)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Anthony Alfieri, Next Generation of Civil Rights Lawyers: Race and Representation in the Age of Identity Performance 122 Yale Law Journal (2013) (book review)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, What Would Be the Story of Alice and Leonard Rhinelander Today? 46 UC Davis Law Review (2013)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, An Officer and a Gentleman, in The New Black What Has Changed—and What Has Not—with Race in America (2013)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Jacob Willig-Onwuachi, Finding a Loving Home, in Loving v. Virginia in a Post-Racial World: Rethinking Race, Sex, and Marriage (Rose Cuison Villazor & Kevin Noble Maillard,2012)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Mario Barnes, The Obama Effect: Specialized Meanings in Anti-discrimination Law 87 Indiana Law Journal (2012)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Amber Shanahan-Fricke, Do Female “Firsts” Still Matter?: Why They Do for Women of Color 2012 Michigan State Law Review (2012)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Silence of the Lambs, in Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia (Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, Yolanda Flores Niemann, Carmen G. Gonzalez & Angela P. Harris,2012)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Tributes to Dores McCree 16 Michigan Journal of Race & Law (2011)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Vulnerable Populations and Transformative Law Teaching: A Critical Reader (2011)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Amber Fricke, Class, Classes, and Classic Race Baiting: What’s in a Definition? 88 Denver University Law Review (2011)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Another Hair Piece: Exploring New Strands of Analysis Under Title VII 98 Georgetown Law Journal (2010)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Teaching Employment Discrimination 54 St. Louis Law Journal (2010)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Jacob Willig-Onwuachi, All in the Family 22 Yale Journal of Law and Feminism (2010)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Darren Rosenblum, Noa Ben-Asher, Mary Anne Case, Elizabeth Emens, Berta E. Hernandez-Truyol,, Vivian M. Gutierrez, Lisa C. Ikemoto, Jacob Willig-Onwuachi, Kimberly Mutcherson, Peter Siegelman & Beth Jones, Pregnant Man: A Conversation 22 Yale Journal of Law and Feminism (2010)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Complimentary and Complementary Discrimination in Faculty Hiring 87 Washington University Law Review (2010)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Osamudia James, The Declining Significance of Presidential Races? 72 Law & Contemporary Problems (2009)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Celebrating Critical Race Theory at 20 94 Iowa Law Review (2009)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, The Black Divide in Affirmative Action, in Our Promise: Achieving Educational Equality for America’s Children (Daniel Weddle & Maurice Dyson,2009)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Jacob Willig-Onwuachi, A House Divided: The Invisibility of the Multiracial Family 44 Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review (2009)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Emily Houh & Mary Campbell, Cracking the Egg: Which Came First—Stigma or Affirmative Action? 96 California Law Review (2008)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, The Story of Hudgins v. Wrights: Multiracialism and the Social Construction of Race, in Race Law Stories (Rachel F. Moran & Devon W. Carbado,2008)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, A Beautiful Lie: Exploring Rhinelander v. Rhinelander as a Formative Lesson on Race, Identity, Marriage, and Family 95 California Law Review (2007)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Volunteer Discrimination 40 UC Davis Law Review (2007)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Girl, Fight! 22 Berkeley Journal of Gender Law and Justice (2007) (book review)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, The Admission of Legacy Blacks 60 Vanderbilt Law Review (2007)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, There’s Just One Hitch, Will Smith: Examining Title VII, Race, Casting, and Discrimination on the Fortieth Anniversary of Loving v. Virginia 2007 Wisconsin Law Review (2007)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Representative Government, Representative Court? The Supreme Court as a Representative Body 90 Minnesota Law Review (2006)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Undercover Other 94 California Law Review (2006)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, This Bridge Called Our Backs: An Introduction to “The Future of Critical Race Feminism” 39 UC Davis Law Review (2006)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, The Return of the Ring: Welfare Reform’s Marriage Cure as the Revival of Post-Bellum Control 93 California Law Review (2005)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, For Whom Does the Bell Toll: The Bell Tolls for Brown? 103 Michigan Law Review (2005) (book review)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Just Another Brother on the SCT?: What Justice Clarence Thomas Teaches Us About the Influence of Racial Identity 90 Iowa Law Review (2005)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Using the Master’s “Tool” to Dismantle His House: Why Justice Clarence Thomas Makes the Case for Affirmative Action 47 Arizona Law Review (2005)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Mario Barnes, By Any Other Name?: On Being “Regarded As” Black, and Why Title VII Should Apply Even If Lakisha and Jamal Are White 2005 Wisconsin Law Review (2005)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig & Kevin Johnson, Cry Me A River: The Limits of 'A Systemic Analysis of Affirmative Action in American Law Schools' 7 Berkeley Journal of African American Law and Policy (2005)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, When Different Means the Same: Applying a Different Standard of Proof to White Plaintiffs Under the McDonnell Douglas Prima Facie Case Test 50 Case Western Reserve Law Review (1999)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, The Verdict on Roberts v. Texaco 15 Harvard BlackLetter Journal (1999) (book review)
Scholarly Commons -
Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Note, Moving Ground, Breaking Traditions: Tasha’s Chronicle 3 Michigan Journal of Race and Law (1997)
Scholarly Commons
In the Media
Scroll left to right to view all in the media posts
-
BU Today October 5, 2023
“Thrilled!” “Excited!” “Fantastic!” BU Community Reacts to Melissa L. Gilliam, BU’s 11th President
The Boston University community reacted with excitement, elation, and pride at the appointment of Melissa L. Gilliam as BU’s 11th president. “I am super excited about Dr. Gilliam,” said Mariette DiChristina (COM’86), dean of the College of Communication. “When we think about a multidisciplinary university, one that is trying to help the world with its […]
read more -
ALM September 1, 2023
ABA President Mary Smith Releases Diversity Statement
Angela Onwuachi-Willig is mentioned.
read more -
The Business Journals August 7, 2023
The CROWN Act Would Ban Hair Discrimination. Here’s Why Supporters Say It’s Needed.
Angela Onwuachi-Willig is mentioned.
read more -
Law.com July 17, 2023
Ahead of the Curve: The US Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Ruling Has Created a Perception Problem for Law Schools
Angela Onwuachi-Willig is quoted.
read more -
Diverse Issues in Higher Education July 2, 2023
Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Decision Will Shrink an Already Narrow Pipeline to the Legal Profession
Angela Onwuachi-Willig is quoted.
read more -
Law.com June 29, 2023
‘Schools Still Have Ample Power’: Legal Academia Disappointed—But Undeterred—by SCOTUS Affirmative Action Ruling
Angela Onwuachi-Willig is quoted.
read more -
Reuters
US Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Ruling a ‘Headwind’ for Lawyer Diversity, Experts Say
Angela Onwuachi-Willig is quoted.
read more -
Bloomberg June 9, 2023
Offensive Music Ruling Guts ‘Equal Opportunity Harasser’ Theory
Angela Onwuachi-Willig is quoted.
read more -
Corey Robin May 23, 2023
We’re Slowly Moving past the Clichés of Clarence Thomas
Angela Onwuachi-Willig's podcast appearance is mentioned.
read more -
WNYC Studios May 18, 2023
More Perfect: Clarence X
Angela Onwuachi-Willig appears on a podcast.
read more -
BU Today February 21, 2023
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to Address BU School of Law Convocation in May
Angela Onwuachi-Willig is quoted.
read more -
Association of American Publishers February 8, 2023
Association of American Publishers Announces Finalists and Category Winners for 2023 Prose Awards
Angela Onwuachi-Willig's book wins an award.
read more -
Law.com February 2, 2023
Hair at Root of Anti-discrimination Laws Sweeping Country
Angela Onwuachi-Willig is quoted.
read more -
The New York Times January 20, 2023
Harvard Medical School Joins Boycott of US News Rankings
Angela Onwuachi Willig is quoted.
read more -
The New York Times November 18, 2022
As More Top Law Schools Boycott Rankings, Others Say They Can’t Afford to Leave
Angela Onwuachi-Willig is quoted.
read more - View All Articles
Stories from The Record


BU Law’s Commitment to a Diverse Student Body
June 29, 2023
Helping Others Reach Their Potential
June 12, 2023
Models for Modern Law
June 7, 2023
After Roe, After Dobbs
June 2, 2023
Looking Back, Looking Forward
December 9, 2022
A Support System for Black Women Law Professors
July 27, 2022