It was announced earlier this week by Dean Richard Post that Yale Law School has its very first tenured Hispanic faculty member. Beginning on January 28, Cristina Rodriguez will join the faculty, according to The National Law Journal.
Rodriguez has taught previously at New York University School of Law since 2004 and has expertise in immigration law. In 2010, Rodriguez took a leave from the school in order to work as a deputy assistant attorney general for the United States Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel.
“Cristina is the nation’s leading theorist of immigration law,” Post said in a written statement. “Her work is both practical and cutting edge, and she brings a wealth of experience and knowledge. She is a superb teacher, and I expect that she will be a mentor to generations of students.”
In March of 2012, it was reported by The Yale Daily News that Rodriguez was offered a tenured post at the school. The news broke during a town hall meeting that involved students and administrators regarding faculty diversity.
The Association of American Law Schools, the AALS, released data that shows 72 percent of law professors across the country are white. The data is from 2008, which is the most recent data available. Across the country, 80 percent of faculty members who have tenure or tenure-track jobs are white as well.
Rodriguez graduated from Yale Law School with her J.D. and was a visiting professor at the school in the fall semester of 2009. Rodriguez is going to teach immigration law, constitutional law and administrative law.