Lia Epperson Jealous

Lia Epperson, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the SJD Program at American University Washington College of Law, is a nationally recognized expert in the areas of civil rights, constitutional law, and education policy. Her scholarship centers on the constitutional dialogue between federal courts and the political branches, and its implications for educational equity. Her scholarship, published in leading journals, also explores the role of public schools, colleges, and universities in creating equal opportunity. Prior to her appointment at American University, she served on the law faculties of the University of Maryland and Santa Clara University. She has also served as a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress, focusing on federal civil rights enforcement of educational policies and practices. Prior to becoming a law professor in 2005, Professor Epperson directed the education law and policy group of the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund (LDF). Prior to her time at LDF, Professor Epperson was an attorney with Morrison & Foerster in Palo Alto, CA, and a law clerk to the Honorable Timothy K. Lewis of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She received her law degree from Stanford University, where she served as an editor of the Stanford Law Review as well as the Stanford Law and Policy Review. She earned her bachelor's degree in sociology, magna cum laude, from Harvard University. Her father David E. Epperson, the chairman of the Y.M.C.A. of the U.S.A., is the dean emeritus of the school of social work at the University of Pittsburgh. Her mother, Cecelia Epperson, who is retired, taught first grade at Lincoln Elementary School in Pittsburgh.