Robert A. Williams, Jr. is the Regents Professor, E. Thomas Sullivan Professor of Law and Faculty Co-Chair of the University of Arizona Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program. Professor Williams received his B.A. from Loyola College (1977) and his J.D. from Harvard Law School (1980). He was named the first Oneida Indian Nation Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (2003-2004), having previously served there as Bennet Boskey Distinguished Visiting Lecturer of Law. He is the author of The American Indian in Western Legal Thought:  The Discourses of Conquest (1990), which received the Gustavus Meyers Human Rights Center Award as one of the outstanding books published in 1990 on the subject of prejudice in the United States. He has also written Linking Arms Together:  American Indian Treaty Visions of Law and Peace, 1600-1800 (1997) and Like a Loaded Weapon:  The Rehnquist Court, Indian Rights and the Legal History of Racism in America (2005). He is co-author of Federal Indian Law:  Cases and Materials (6th ed., with David Getches, Charles Wilkinson, and Matthew Fletcher, 2011). His latest book is Savage Anxieties:  The Invention of Western Civilization (Palgrave Macmillan 2012). The 2006 recipient of the University of Arizona Koffler Prize for Outstanding Accomplishments in Public Service, Professor Williams has received major grants and awards from the Soros Senior Justice Fellowship Program of the Open Society Institute, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Justice, and the National Institute of Justice. He has been interviewed by Bill Moyers and quoted on the front page of the New York Times. He has represented tribal groups and members before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples, the United States Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court of Canada. Professor Williams served as Chief Justice for the Court of Appeals, Pascua Yaqui Indian Reservation, and as Justice for the Court of Appeals and trial judge pro tem for the Tohono O'odham Nation. He was named one of 2011's "Heroes on the Hill" by Indian Country Today for his human rights advocacy work as Lead Counsel for the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group of Canada before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. He lives and works in Tucson, Arizona.

Curriculum Vitae  SSRN Published Papers

Representative Publications

• Cases and Materials on Federal Indian Law (7th ed. 2017) (co-author, with David H. Getches, Charles F. Wilkinson, Matthew L.M. Fletcher, & Kristen A. Carpenter).
• Savage Anxieties:  The Invention of Western Civilization (2012).
• Cases and Materials on Federal Indian Law (6th ed. 2011) (co-author, with David H. Getches, Charles F. Wilkinson, & Matthew L.M. Fletcher).
• Like a Loaded Weapon:  The Rehnquist Court, Indian Rights, and the Legal History of Racism in America (2005).
• Linking Arms Together:  American Indian Treaty Visions of Law and Peace, 1600-1800 (1997).
• The American Indian in Western Legal Thought:  The Discourses of Conquest  (1990).

View all Publications

Education

• J.D. Harvard Law School

  1980

  H.E.W. American Indian Fellowship Recipient (1977 - 1980); Research Assistant to Brandeis Professor of Law, Charles M. Haar

• A.B. Loyola College, Baltimore

  1977

  Editor-in-Chief, College Newspaper, The Greyhound; Dean's List (six semesters); Who's Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities (1977)

Admitted to Practice

• Massachusetts

Work Experience

• Regents Professor, E. Thomas Sullivan Professor of Law; Faculty Co-Chair, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program

  James E. Rogers College of Law

  2018 - present

• E. Thomas Sullivan Professor of Law; Faculty Co-Chair, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program

  James E. Rogers College of Law

  2017 - 2018

• E. Thomas Sullivan Professor of Law; Faculty Chair, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program

  James E. Rogers College of Law

  2016 - 2017

• E. Thomas Sullivan Professor of Law; Faculty Co-chair, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program

  James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona

  1998 - 2016

• Faculty Chair, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program and Clinic

  James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona

  1989 - 1998

• Judge, pro tem, Tohono O'odham Indian Nation

  Tucson, Arizona

  1988 - present

• Visiting Professor of Law and Bennet Boskey Visiting Lecturer of Law

  Harvard Law School

  Winter - Spring 2001

• Acting Director, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy LL.M. Program

  James E. Rogers College of Law, University of Arizona

  2000

• Visiting Professor of Law and Bennet Boskey Visiting Lecturer of Law

  Harvard Law School

  Winter - Spring 2000

• Visiting Professor of Law

  Harvard Law School

  Winter 1999

• Chief Justice, Court of Appeals, Pascua Yaqui Indian Tribe

  Tucson, Arizona

  1998 - 2000

• Cross Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law

  University of Washington School of Law

  1992 - 1993

• Director, Office of Indian Programs

  University of Arizona

  1990 - 1992

• Associate Justice, Court of Appeals, Pascua Yacqui Indian Tribe

  Tucson, Arizona

  1988 - 1997

• Professor of Law and American Indian Studies

  University of Arizona College of Law

  1987 - 1998

• Marks Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law

  University of Arizona College of Law

  Fall 1986

• Associate Professor of Law

  University of Wisconsin Law School

  1986

• Assistant Professor of Law

  University of Wisconsin Law School

  1984 - 1986

• Assistant Professor of Law

  Rutgers Law School

  1981 - 1984

• Legal Consultant

  Regional and Urban Planning Implementation, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.

  1980 - 1981

• Teaching Fellow

  Boston College Law School

  1980 - 1981

Organizations

• Association of American Law Schools

  Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure

  1993 - 1995

  Executive Committee, Minority Rights Section

  1990 - 1993

  Committee on Recruitment and Retention of Minority Law Teachers

  1990 - 1991

  Chair, Native American Rights Section

  1988 - 1989

• Tucson Metropolitan Urban Native American Affairs Commission

  1989 - 1991

• Wisconsin Indian Lawyers Association

  President

  1985

• Indian Rights Association, Philadelphia PA

  Vice-President

  1983 - 1984

  Board of Directors

  1981 - 1984

Public & Institutional Service

• Pro bono work, counsel for Carrier Sekani Tribal Council of British Columbia, Canada (British Columbia Treaty Process)

  1999 (filed "Request For Precautionary Measures: Matter of Carrier Sekani People (Canada)" with Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Washington, D.C.)

• Principal Organizer, Conference on Future Directions for the Tribal Law and Policy Program, University of Arizona College of Law

  1998 (October 31)

• Principal Organizer, Environmental Conflict Resolution in Indian Country, University of Arizona College of Law

  1997 (March)

• Pro bono work, "Mayagna (Sumo) Community of Awas Tingni", Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Case No. 11.555

  1996? (submitted Amicus Curiae Brief as counsel for the National Congress of American Indians)

• Chair, University of Arizona Search Committee, Associate Director, Community and Economic Development, American Indian Studies

  1995

• Chair, University of Arizona Executive Committee, American Indian Studies

  1994 - 1995

• University of Arizona Citizen's Advisory Forum: "Setting Goals for the Recruitment a

  1994

• Catalina Valley Little League Baseball, Coach

  1994 - present

• Consultant, New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council, Sydney, Australia

  1993 - 1994 (land claims litigation)

• Consultant, Sawridge Cree Band of Alberta

  1993 - present (aboriginal sovereignty claims litigation)

• Foothills Futbol Club, Coach

  1993 - present

• Catalina Homeowners Association, Board of Directors

  1993 - present

• Consultant, Native Hawaiian Advisory Council

  1991 - present (water rights and self-determination issues)

• University of Arizona Indian Advisory Committee

  1987 - present

• Chair, University of Arizona Search Committee, Director, American Indian Graduate Center

  1992

• Chair, University of Arizona Search Committee, Program Coordinator, American Indian Graduate Center

  1991

• Member, University of Arizona Self-Study Committee, American Indian Studies Program, Graduate College

  1991

• Chair, University of Arizona Search Committee, Director, American Indian Graduate Center

  1991

• Principal Organizaer, Indigenous Claims Conference, University of Arizona College of Law

  1991 (November)

• Counsel and Alternative Delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Commission for the National Indian Youth Council (U.N. NGO)

  1990 - 1993

• Consultant, Tohono O'odham Indian Nation, Arizona

  1990 - 1992 (tribal land claims legal issues)

• Consultant, Southwest Indian Agicultural Association

  1990 - 1992

• University of Arizona President's Diversity Action Council

  1990 - 1992

• University of Arizona Provost's Special Committee on Faculty Participation in University Governance

  1990 - 1992

• University of Arizona Graduate College Centennial Award Committee

  1990?

• Consultant, Passamaquoddy Indian Tribe, Maine

  1990 (tribal constitution drafting process)

• Principal Organizer, Tribal Judges Conference and Workshop: Principles of Tribal Sovereignty and Jurisdiction, University of Arizona College of Law

  1990 (November)

• Consultant, National Indian Youth Council, United Nations Non-Governmental Organization

  1989 - 1993

• Counsel, Gila River Indian Community Land and Water Users Association

  1989 - 1990

• University of Arizona Provost's Ad Hoc Committee on Indian Programs

  1989 - 1990

• University of Arizona Native American Draft Program Change Request Committee

  1989 - 1990

• University of Arizona Search Committee, Assistant Dean for Native American Student Affairs

  1989

• University of Arizona American Indian Graduate Center Advisory Council

  1988 - 1992

• North Central Association University of Arizona Decennial Accreditation Committee

  1988 - 1990

• National Lecturer, SMH Bar Review Course, Boston, Massachusetts

  1982 - 1991

Awards

• The 1996 Quinlan Lecture, Oklahoma City University School of Law

  4/9/1996

• National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice Grant

  1996, 1995

• Udall Center Faculty Grants Program

  1996, 1995

• The Sixth Annual McDonald Lecture on Constitutional Studies, The University of Alberta Law School

  3/1/1994

• Gustavus Meyers Human Rights Center Award for The American Indian in Western Legal Thought: The Discourses of Conquest

  1992

• Ford Foundation Research Grant

  1992

• The George E. Allen Chair of Law, The University of Richmond Law School

  4/1/1992

• Visiting Scholar, University of Oklahoma School of Law Enrichment Program

  3/1/1992

• Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Oklahoma Scholar-Leadership Program, University of Oklahoma

  3/1/1992

• Evans Bunker Distinguished Visiting Scholar, University of Washington School of Law

  11/1/1991

• James Thomas Lecture, Yale University Law School

  3/1/1991

• John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Award: Program on Peace and International Cooperation

  1991, 1989

• National Endowment for the Humanities Award: Division of Research Programs

  1991, 1989

• University of Arizona Graduate College Research Award

  1990, 1989

• University of Arizona Office of Minority Student Affairs Outstanding Faculty Member Award

  1990, 1989

• University of Arizona Outstanding Native American Faculty Award

  1989, 1988

• American Council of Learned Societies/Ford Foundation Fellowship

  1986, 1985

• Project Trochos: University of Wisconsin

  1986, 1985

• University of Wisconsin Graduate School Summer Research Fellowship

  1985

• University of Wisconsin Law School Minority Students Organization Teacher of the Year

  1985

• Smongeski Fellowship, University of Wisconsin

  1985

• Council for Instructional Development Grant

  1983

• Rutgers University Research Council Award

  1982

• National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Fellowship Award

  1981

• H.E.W American Indian Fellowship Recipient

  1980, 1979, 1978, 1977

• Editorial Board, H-AMINDIAN, an electronic journal published on the Internet at http://www.asu.edu/clas/history/h-amindian/
• Editorial Board, The International Journal of Indigenous Philosophy
• International Advisory Board of the Review of Constitutional Studies