Michele Dauber

A law professor and a sociologist, Michele Landis Dauber has written highly original historical and sociological studies focusing on the history of social provision and the US welfare state. Her first book, The Sympathetic State (2013 University of Chicago Press) received numerous distinguished book awards and prizes including from the American Historical Association, the American Sociological Association, the American Political Science Association, the American Society for Legal History, and the Law and Society Association.

Professor Dauber has received numerous grants for her research including from the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is currently working on a project about the history of resettlement and relocation following catastrophes.

Professor Dauber is the recipient of the 2006 Walter J. Gores Award, Stanford University’s highest teaching honor. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty in 2001, Professor Dauber was a clerk to Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1998-99) and a doctoral fellow at the American Bar Foundation (1999-2001).

From 2011-13, Professor Dauber co-chaired the Board on Judicial Affairs and helped to lead the process that revised Stanford’s policy on sexual assault. She is a nationally-respected advocate for improving college and university policies on sexual assault in order to increase compliance with Title IX.