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Robert S. Chang

Professor of Law and Sylvia Mendez Presidential Chair for Civil Rights

Executive Director of the UC Irvine School of Law Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality

Robert S. Chang

Background:

Professor Robert S. Chang joins UC Irvine School of Law as the executive director of the UC Irvine School of Law Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality. Professor Chang is the inaugural chair holder of the Sylvia Mendez Presidential Chair for Civil Rights.

Prof. Chang founded the center — named for pioneering civil rights hero Fred T. Korematsu — in 2009 at the Seattle University School of Law. The center leads numerous initiatives and projects focused on research, advocacy, and clinical education. Learn more about Prof. Chang and the Korematsu Center's move to its new home in Irvine. 

Prof. Chang is one of the nation’s leading scholars on issues of race and interethnic relations, and one of the most recognized voices on Asian Americans and the law. He is the author of “Disoriented: Asian Americans, Law and the Nation-State” (NYU Press 1999) and co-editor of “Minority Relations: Intergroup Conflict and Cooperation” (University Press of Mississippi 2017). His most recent book, “Banned: The Fight for Mexican American Studies in the Streets and in the Courts” (with Nolan Cabrera), was published at the beginning of this year by Cambridge University Press. He has another book forthcoming later this year, as well as book, “AsianCrit at the Intersections” (with Rose Cuison Villazor), under contract with University of California Press that will be published in 2027. He has authored more than 60 articles, essays and chapters published in leading law reviews and books on minority relations, critical race theory, LatCrit theory and Asian American legal studies. 

An elected member of the American Law Institute, Prof. Chang has received numerous recognitions for his scholarship and service. In 2024, several local, state, and national bar associations conferred awards, including the 2024 Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award, the lifetime achievement award of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Among other awards, Prof. Chang is the 2022 recipient of Seattle University’s McGoldrick Fellowship, the most prestigious honor Seattle University confers upon its faculty; the 2021 co-recipient of the Kathleen Taylor Civil Libertarian Award from ACLU-Washington; the 2018 recipient of the M. Shanara Gilbert Human Rights Award from The Society of American Law Teachers; the 2014 co-recipient of the Charles A. Goldmark Distinguished Service Award from the Legal Foundation of Washington; and the 2009 co-recipient of the Clyde Ferguson Award from the Minority Groups Section of the Association of American Law Schools.

Prior to joining UC Irvine School of Law, Prof. Chang held professorships at Seattle University School of Law and Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Prof. Chang received an A.B. from Princeton University and holds M.A. and J.D. degrees from Duke University. 

(Log in to view full course descriptions in the UCI Law Course Catalog)

  • AsianCrit at the Intersections (with Rose Cuison-Villazor) (University of California Press, forthcoming Spring 2027) 
  • “Who Owns Civil Rights History” (with H. Timothy Lovelace, Jr.), 105 Boston University Law Review (forthcoming) 
  • “‘That’s Not My Name’: The Linguistic Violence of Misnaming Parties in Court Proceedings and in Opinions” (with Linda CJ Lee & Cecily C. Hazelrigg), 100 Washington Law Review (2025)  
  • The United States Supreme Court And White Social Dominance (With Carlton Waterhouse, Michalyn Steele & Tanya Hernandez) (Under Contract, Cambridge University Press).
  • Banned: Fighting For Mexican American Studies In The Streets And The Courts (With Nolan Cabrera) (Cambridge University Press, 2024).
  • Our Constitution Has Never Been Colorblind, 54 Seton Hall L. Rev. (Forthcoming 2024).
  • Minority Relations: Intergroup Conflict And Cooperation (University Press Of Mississippi 2018) (With Greg Robinson, Co-editor) (Original Solicited Contributions From Legal And Humanities Scholars).
  • (Im)balancing Acts: Criminalization And De-criminalization Of Social And Public Health Problems, Journal Of Law, Medicine, And Ethics (2022) (With Keon L. Gilbert) (Invited Commentary).
  • Report And Recommendations To Address Race In Washington’s Juvenile Legal System: 2021 Report To The Washington Supreme Court, 57 Gonzaga Law Review, 45 Seattle University Law Review (2022).
  • Race And Washington’s Criminal Justice System: 2021 Report To The Washington Supreme Court, 56 Gonzaga Law Review 117, 45 Seattle University Law Review 969, 97 Washington Law Review (Forthcoming In All Three Journals In 2022) (Update On Race And Washington’s Criminal Justice System).
  • Disoriented: Asian Americans, Law, And The Nation-state (New York University Press, 1999) (Reviewed In Several Journals Including The Michigan Law Review, Journal Of Asian American Studies, And Amerasia Journal). 

Professor Chang's Scholarship on SSRN

  • December 2025
    Panelist, “Citizenship as Architecture: How Did the Law Build the Idea of Who Counts as American? Anti-AANHPI Laws and Legal Battles Series. OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates Webinar 
  • November 2025
    ➭ Speaker, OCBA Appellate Law Sills Award Presentation, U.S. Supreme Court Review and Preview & The David G. Sills Award for Appellate Excellence Presentation to Justice Raymond J. Ikola (Ret.)
    ➭ Speaker, Post-Screening Commentary, Documentary: “Heightened Scrutiny,” OutLaw at UCI Law
    ➭ Speaker, Community Forum on the Census, UC Irvine School of Law
    ➭ Panelist, “Academic Freedom and Civil Rights,” Symposium: The Rule of Law and Threats to Democracy, UC Law San Francisco
    ➭ Speaker, “Historical Foundations: Asian Americans,” The Antiracist Courtroom & Reducing Disparity Through Nontraditional Diversion. National Judicial College
    ➭ Panelist, “U.S. Supreme Court Review and Preview, Orange County Bar Association Appellate Law Section,” David G. Sills Award Dinner
    ➭ Panelist, “Dialogue on Diversity: A Nation for All? Race and Immigration Policy from a Historical Perspective,” San Diego County Bar Association, DEI Division. Via zoom
  • October 2025
    ➭ Panelist, “Critical Race Theory at the Bottom of the Well: Derrick Bell’s ‘Grandchildren’ Reflect on the Future of CRT,” Washington University in St. Louis School of Law
    ➭ Panelist, “The Genealogies of Critical Race Theory and Decolonial Thought,” Conference: “I’ve Known Rivers”: The Ecologies of Black Life and Resistance, Association for the Study of Worldwide African Diaspora (October 2025
    ➭ Panelist, “Families and the Construction of Racial Experience,” Symposium: Think. Teach. Transform. 25 Years of Critical Race Studies, UCLA School of Law
    ➭ Book signing event, “Banned: The Fight for Mexican American Studies in the Streets and in the Courts” (Cambridge University Press 2025) (with Nolan Cabrera), Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
    ➭ Panelist, “Confronting the Project to Whitewash American History,” Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Public Service Award Event, Loyola Law School 
    ➭ Panelist, “The Alien Enemies Act of 1798: Understanding 1941 and 2025,” Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture, University of Southern California
    ➭ Panelist, “Families and the Construction of Racial Experience,” Think. Teach. Transform. Critical Race Studies 25th Anniversary Symposium & Celebration, UCLA School of Law Critical Race Studies Program
  • September 2025
    ➭ Keynote, 2025 Awards Gala. Orange County Coalition for Diversity in the Law
    ➭ Speaker, Brown Bag, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, UC Irvine Law
    ➭ Speaker, “What Asian American Legal History Can Teach Us About Travel Bans, Birthright Citizenship, the Trans Military Ban, the Attack on Law Firms, and Other Contemporary Issues,” William P. Gray Legion Lex Inn of Court, Costa Mesa, California
    ➭ Panelist Session 2, Birthright Citizenship and the 14th Amendment, The 14th Amendment Center for Law & Democracy, Howard University School of Law, Webinar
    ➭ Panelist, Breaking Barriers: Navigating Immigration Policies and Their Impact on Marginalized Communities, Korean American Bar Association of San Dieg
    ➭ Speaker, “A (Partial) History of Race in America,” Elimination of Bias CLE, Buchalter, Irvine, California
    ➭ Plenary, “The Role of Amicus Briefs in Promoting Justice,” Western Regional Legal Writing Conference, UC Irvine School of Law
  • July 2025
    Panelist, “Amicus Brief Strategies in the Lower Courts,” NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. 43rd Annual Capital Punishment Training Conference
  • June 2025
    Panelist, “NextGen Civil Rights – Nonprofit, Practitioner, and Academic Partnerships to Support Effective Community Lawyering. Transformative Justice in a World on Fire” Joint Conference of Asian Pacific American Law Faculty and Western Law Teachers of Color, William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaiʻi
  • May 2025
    Event on the role of the U.S. Supreme Court (with Professor Ann Southworth), Sponsored by Brennan Center for Justice, San Francisco
  • April 2025
    Roundtable Discussion, “A Deeper Dive: Executive Power and the Rule of Law,” UC Irvine School of Law
    Panelist, “Revival of Alien Land Laws: The Hidden Threat to Chinese American Property Rights,” Committee of 100 Annual Conference and Gala, Los Angeles, California (April 2025) 
  • March 2025
    Speaker, “How Do We Come to Participate in the Struggles of Those Who Are Not Us?” 2025 Neil Gotanda Lecture in Asian American Jurisprudence; symposium commemorating the 25-year anniversary of the publication of Professor Chang’s book, Disoriented: Asian Americans, Law, and the Nation-State (New York University Press 2000), hosted by the Berkeley Asian American Law Journal. UC Berkeley Law
    Panelist, “Immigration and Birthright Citizenship,” Remembering: The Atlanta Spa Hate Shootings, Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Coalition, Los Angeles, California 
    Speaker, “Defining the Problem: A Partial History of Race in American: A Narrative Project,” Oregon Judges Association Spring Conference, Newport, Oregon
  • February 2025
    Keynote address, “What It Means to Me to Be a Korean American Lawyer During this Current Moment,” Korean American Bar Association – San Diego Annual Dinner 
  • February 2025
    Speaker, “Defining the Problem—A History of Race in America,” and “Machine Bias,” Training on Anti-Racism and the Courts, Judicial College of Maryland
  • Bronze Medal, 2025 Victor Villaseñor Best Latino Focused Nonfiction Book Award for “Banned: The Fight for Mexican American Studies in the Streets and in the Courts” (Cambridge University Press 2025) (with Nolan Cabrera), International Latino Book Awards (October 2025) 
  • Spotlight on Excellence Award, Orange County Coalition for Diversity in the Law 2025 Awards Gala (September 2025) 
  • 2025 Community Pillar Award, Orange County Asian American Bar Association, OCAABA 31st Annual Installation Dinner (July 2025) 
  • 2024 Justice Charles Z. Smith Excellence in Diversity APEX Award. Washington State Bar Association. Named in honor of Justice C. Z. Smith, the first African American to serve on the Washington Supreme Court, this award goes to a lawyer, law firm, or law-related group that has made a significant contribution to diversity in the legal profession.
  • 2024 Friend of the Legal Profession Award. King County Bar Association. Awarded for distinguished and meritorious service to the legal profession and justice system.
  • 2024 Mentor of the Year Award. Korean American Bar Association of Washington. Seattle, Washington. February 2024.
  • 2023 CAPALF/LARC Scholar-Activist Award. Awarded by the Loyola Law School Anti-Racism Center. Los Angeles, California. June 2023.
  • 2022-2023 McGoldrick Fellow. Seattle University. This fellowship is the most prestigious honor Seattle University confers upon its faculty. Named for Father McGoldrick, who died in 1983 after devoting 50 years of distinguished teaching and dedicated service to Seattle University, the fellowship is given to faculty who exemplify Fr. McGoldrick’s commitment to students and the values of the Jesuit educational tradition. Fellowship comes with a one-semester sabbatical.