Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-2026
ISSN
0197-4564
Publisher
University of California - Davis
Language
en-US
Abstract
This Essay pays tributes to Dean Emeritus Kevin R. Johnson’s extraordinary contributions to the growth and successes of full-time Latinx faculty and other faculty of color within the legal academy. To do so, it utilizes the recent, inaugural study of faculty by the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) to situate the legal academy’s progress with the diversification of its faculty within a longer trajectory and then illustrates how such gains over the past three decades are the product of intentional, sustained intervention rather than organic institutional and societal evolution. The Essay begins by tracing the lineage of this progress to the advocacy of pioneering academic leaders of color, such as Professor Michael Olivas, whose public critiques and the influential “Dirty Dozens” lists exposed structural exclusion and inspired national accountability efforts. The Essay then turns to the transformative contributions of Dean Emeritus Kevin R. Johnson, focusing first on how his work as a mentor, scholar, and institutional leader enabled, benefited, and enhanced the academic and leadership career of the author, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, who began her career as a tenure-track faculty member under the tutelage and mentorship of then-Associate Dean Emeritus Johnson at the University of California, Davis School of Law (Martin Luther King, Jr. Hall) and who now serves as Dean of Boston University School of Law. The Essay then details how Dean Johnson’s mentorship opened up pathways to and within legal academy for large numbers of faculty of color, which ultimately seeded broader cultural change within the legal academy. The Essay concludes by identifying the ongoing responsibilities of law school leaders to build upon the foundation set by Dean Emeritus Johnson, using data and findings from the AALS law faculty study to highlight areas of concern and potential future growth and advancement within legal academia.
Recommended Citation
Angela Onwuachi-Willig,
The River That Powers Us: A Tribute to Dean Emeritus Kevin R. Johnson, His Steadfast Commitment to Diversity and Excellence, and His Legacy of Impact
,
59
U.C. Davis Law Review
2921
(2026).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/4279
