Dr. Goodwin Liu

Biography

Goodwin Liu is an esteemed legal scholar and current Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court, having been sworn into office on September 1, 2011. He was nominated by Governor Jerry Brown and confirmed unanimously. Liu previously served as an Adjunct Professor at Columbia Law School and held the position of Associate Dean at UC Berkeley School of Law. His primary areas of expertise include constitutional law, education law, and diversity in the legal profession. Liu is a son of Taiwanese immigrants and grew up in Sacramento, California, where he attended public schools. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Stanford University in 1991, followed by a master's degree in philosophy and physiology from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. After returning to the U.S., Liu played a significant role in launching AmeriCorps and has worked as a senior program officer at the Corporation for National and Community Service. In 1998, Liu graduated from Yale Law School, making history as the first in his family to earn a law degree. He has clerked for U.S. Court of Appeals Judge David Tatel and for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the U.S. Supreme Court. Liu has a distinguished career in legal practice, having worked at O'Melveny & Myers in Washington, D.C. Additionally, he is recognized as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Law Institute, and he serves on several boards and councils.

Research Interests