Laurence Henry Tribe

One of the leading constitutional authorities in the U.S., Laurence H. Tribe was born in Shanghai, China in 1941 to Russian-Jewish parents and immigrated to the U.S. following the Second World War. After earning mathematics and law degrees from Harvard University, he joined the faculty at the law school in 1968. For his lifetime of work in academia he has received many honorary doctorate degrees from universities such as Colgate University, Hebrew University, and New York University. He also serves as a mentor to President Obama, appointed as Senior Counselor for Access to Justice in the U.S. Justice Department in a position that in part seeks to improve legal services for the poor. Among his many writings, his 1978 treatise American Constitutional Law is a standard reference work in legal circles, and he is known as a defender of progressive causes and civil rights. Updated 2013