Dorothy Roberts

Dorothy E. Roberts, born on March 8, 1956, is an American sociologist, law professor, and social justice advocate. She currently holds several prestigious positions at the University of Pennsylvania, including Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor, George A. Weiss University Professor, and inaugural Raymond Pace and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Professor of Civil Rights. Roberts is widely recognized for her expertise in gender, race, and class in legal issues, with a particular focus on reproductive health, child welfare, and bioethics. She has published over 80 articles and essays in esteemed books and scholarly journals such as Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and Stanford Law Review. In 2023, Roberts was elected to the American Philosophical Society. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Roberts was raised in a politically active household in Hyde Park by her white father, an anthropologist, and her Jamaican-born mother, who worked as his research assistant.