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Sherrilyn Ifill

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Sherrilyn Ifill
Born1963 (age 60–61)
New York City, New York, U.S.
EducationVassar College (BA)
New York University (JD)
Known forPresident and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
FamilyGwen Ifill
(cousin)

Sherrilyn Ifill is an American lawyer. She is a law professor and president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.[1] She is the Legal Defense Fund's seventh president since Thurgood Marshall founded the organization in 1940. Ifill is also a nationally recognized expert on voting rights and judicial selection.[2]

Early life and education

Sherrilyn Ifill was born on December 17, 1962, in Jamaica, Queens, New York[3] to Lester (a Harlem social worker) and Myrtle. She is the youngest of 10 children.[4] Her mother passed away when Ifill was 6 years old.[4] She graduated from Hillcrest High School.[5] Ifill has a B.A. from Vassar College and a J.D. from New York University School of Law.[1]

Career

While in law school, Ifill clerked for Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. the first summer and at the United Nations Centre for Human Rights the second summer.[2] She served as assistant counsel at the Legal Defense Fund, litigating Voting Rights Act cases including the landmark Houston Lawyers' Association v. Attorney General of Texas.[6] Her first job out of law school was a one-year fellowship with the ACLU in New York.[2] In 1993, she joined the faculty of the University of Maryland Law School, where she taught for two decades.[7][8] She is the author of On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century, a 2008 finalist for the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for Nonfiction.[9]

Ifill regularly appears in the media for her expertise on topics like affirmative action,[10][11] policing,[12] judicial nominees,[13] and the Supreme Court.[14]

Personal life

Ifill is married to Ivo Knobloch[4] and has three children.[3] She is a cousin of the late PBS NewsHour anchor Gwen Ifill. Their family immigrated to the U.S. from Barbados,[15] with Sherrilyn's and Gwen's fathers, who were brothers, both becoming African Methodist Episcopal ministers.[16]

Honors and awards

In 2016, Ifill won the Society of American Law Teachers Great Teacher Award.[17]

Ifill was an American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow in 2019.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b Thompson, Krissah (22 January 2013). "Sherrilyn Ifill is to be head of NAACP legal defense and educational fund". The Washington Post. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "Alumnus/Alumna of the Month | NYU School of Law". www.law.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  3. ^ a b "Sherrilyn Ifill's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  4. ^ a b c Thompson, Krissah (2013-01-22). "Sherrilyn Ifill is to be head of NAACP legal defense and educational fund". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  5. ^ "Shaping the Civil Rights Discourse: Sherrilyn Ifill '84 - Vassar, the Alumnae/i Quarterly". vq.vassar.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-19.
  6. ^ Okpalaoka, Ugonna (November 19, 2012). "Sherrilyn Ifill named head of NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund". The Grio. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  7. ^ Edney, Hazel Trice (November 26, 2012). "NAACP Legal Defense Fund Names Sherrilyn Ifill Next President". Politic365. Archived from the original on 10 April 2018. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  8. ^ "Closing Statements" (interview with Sherrilyn Ifill). NYU Law Magazine. 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  9. ^ "The Arena: Sherrilyn Ifill Bio". Politico. Archived from the original on 2009-05-27. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  10. ^ Hefling, Kimberly; Gerstein, Josh (June 23, 2016). "Supreme Court upholds college affirmative action program". Politico. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  11. ^ Brown, Emma; Douglas-Gabriel, Danielle (June 23, 2016). "Affirmative action advocates shocked — and thrilled — by Supreme Court's ruling in University of Texas case". Washington Post. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  12. ^ Rubenstein, Samuel (21 November 2014). "BPR Interview: Sherrilyn Ifill". Brown Political Review. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  13. ^ Burke, Lauren Victoria (March 18, 2016). "Garland Nomination: Black Advocates Want Him Vetted". NBC News. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  14. ^ Barnes, Robert (May 1, 2016). "Scalia's death affecting next term, too? Pace of accepted cases at Supreme Court slows". Washington Post. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  15. ^ Alcindor, Yamiche (19 November 2016). "Thousands of Mourners Celebrate Gwen Ifill's Tenacity and Grace". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  16. ^ Fineman, Howard (20 November 2016). "Gwen Ifill's Funeral Was A Revival Meeting For America". The Huffington Post.
  17. ^ Society of American Law Teachers (May 16, 2016). "Update on SALT Activities." Retrieved 2017-02-19.
  18. ^ "2019 Fellows and International Honorary Members with their affiliations at the time of election". members.amacad.org. Retrieved 2020-03-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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