Dr. Angela Riley

Biography

Angela R. Riley is a Professor of Law and American Indian Studies at UCLA Law, where she serves as the Carole Goldberg Endowed Chair and Special Advisor to the Chancellor on Native American Indigenous Affairs. She directs the Native Nations Law and Policy Center and the joint J.D./M.A. degree program in Law and American Indian Studies. Professor Riley's research focuses on the rights of Indigenous peoples, with a particular emphasis on cultural property and Native governance. Her work has been published in leading legal journals such as the Yale Law Journal and the Harvard Law Review. Notably, she became the youngest woman Justice of the Supreme Court of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation in 2003 and served as Chief Justice in 2010. Her extensive involvement in Indigenous rights includes co-chairing the United Nations Indigenous Peoples’ Partnership Policy Board. She is a member of the American Law Institute and has held positions as the Oneida Indian Nation Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Riley continues to co-teach a course on Nation Building at Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Research Interests

Courses