Nadine Strossen has written, lectured, and practiced extensively in the areas
of constitutional law, civil liberties, and international human rights. Since
1991, she has served as president of the American Civil Liberties Union, the
first woman to head the nation’s largest and oldest civil liberties
organization.
The National Law Journal has twice named Professor Strossen one of
“The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America.” In
1996, Working Woman Magazine listed her among the “350 Women Who
Changed the World 1976–1996.” In 1997, Upside Magazine included her in
the “Elite 100: 100 Executives Leading The Digital Revolution.” In 1998,
Vanity Fair Magazine included Professor Strossen in
“America’s 200 Most Influential
Women.” In 1999, Ladies’ Home Journal included her in
“America’s 100 Most Important
Women.”
In 2005, Professor Strossen was honored by the University of Tulsa College of
Law and the Tulsa Law Review, which made her scholarly work the subject
of their Fifth Annual Legal Scholarship Symposium titled “Nadine Strossen:
Scholar as Activist.”
Since becoming ACLU President, Professor Strossen has made more than 200
public presentations per year before diverse audiences, including on more than
500 campuses and in many foreign countries. She comments frequently on legal
issues in the national media, having appeared on virtually every national news
program. She has been a monthly columnist for two Web-zines and a weekly
commentator on the Talk America Radio Network. In October 2001, Professor
Strossen made her professional theater debut as the guest star in Eve Ensler’s
award-winning play, The Vagina Monologues, during a week-long run at
the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. Professor Strossen’s writings have been
published in many scholarly and general interest publications (more than 250
published works). Her book, Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the
Fight for Women’s Rights (Scribner, 1995), was named by The New York
Times as a “Notable Book” of 1995 and was republished in October 2000 by
NYU Press, with a new introduction by the author. Her coauthored book,
Speaking of Race, Speaking of Sex: Hate Speech, Civil Rights, and Civil
Liberties (NYU Press, 1995), was named an “outstanding book” by the
Gustavus Myers Center
for the Study of Human Rights in North
America.
In 1986, Professor Strossen became one of the first three women to receive
the U.S. Jaycees’ “Ten Outstanding Young Americans” Award; she was also the
first American woman to win the Jaycees International’s “The Outstanding Young
Persons of the World” Award. Professor Strossen has received honorary Doctor of
Law degrees from the University of
Rhode Island, the University of Vermont, San Joaquin College of Law, Rocky Mountain College, the Massachusetts School of Law, and
Mount
Holyoke College. Other awards include: the “Women
of Distinction” award from the Women’s League for Conservative Judaism, the
Media Institute’s “Freedom of Speech Award,” the Free Speech Coalition’s
“Freedom Isn’t Free Award,” and the National Council of Jewish Women’s “Women
Who Dared Award.” Professor Strossen is a member of the Council on Foreign
Relations.
Professor Strossen graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College (1972) and magna cum laude from
Harvard
Law School (1975), where she was an editor of
the Harvard Law Review. Before becoming a law professor, she practiced
law for nine years in Minneapolis (her hometown)
and New York
City.
Professor Strossen is married to Eli M. Noam, professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business
and founding director of the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information. They have
residences in Manhattan and Kent Lakes,
New
York.
Professor Strossen's 
