Lambda Legal is pleased to announce the election of Fred O. Smith Jr. as the new Chair of its Board of Directors. Smith previously served as Vice-Chair of Lambda Legal’s Board of Directors.
“Mr. Smith brings extraordinary legal acumen and a distinguished record of scholarship and public service to this role,” said Lambda Legal CEO Kevin Jennings. “We are thrilled to welcome him as the new head of our board, and we look forward to his leadership as we continue to fight for the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals and people living with HIV.”
Smith is a professor of law specializing in the federal judiciary, constitutional law, and posthumous legal interests. His scholarship has appeared in some of the nation’s most prestigious legal journals, including the California Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Harvard Law Review, Michigan Law Review, New York University Law Review, Stanford Law Review, University of Chicago Law Review, and Yale Law Journal. He has lectured on these subjects across the United States and internationally, including in Istanbul, Shanghai, and Warsaw, and has been interviewed as a legal expert by major media outlets including CNN, CBS News, MSNBC, National Public Radio, Time Magazine, The New York Times, and The Washington Post.
Smith clerked for Judge Myron Thompson of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama; Judge Barrington D. Parker Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. Supreme Court. He previously held academic positions at Berkeley Law and Emory Law and has served as a visiting professor at the University of Chicago, Columbia University, and Yale University. He was named Emory Law’s Outstanding Professor of the Year in 2019, 2022, and 2023. His published casebooks include Federal Courts in Context (2023) and Constitutional Torts, 5th ed. (2020).
“As a legal scholar, I have spent my career studying the institutions and systems that shape justice in this country, and Lambda Legal has long understood something fundamental: that the law is not just a set of rules, but a site of struggle and transformation,” said Smith. “We are living through a pivotal moment in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights and the rights of people living with HIV, and the work ahead is just as consequential as any Lambda Legal has taken on in its more than 50 years. I am deeply honored to chair this board and committed to ensuring Lambda Legal remains what it has always been, fearless, principled, and unwavering in its pursuit of justice.”
Lambda Legal has been at the forefront of the fight for LGBTQ+ rights for over 50 years as a national legal nonprofit organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of LGBTQ+ individuals and people living with HIV. Lambda Legal’s lawyers have won precedent-setting civil rights cases on everything from marriage equality to expressions of gender identity to health care discrimination. Through education, advocacy, and legal action, Lambda Legal strives to protect and advance the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, advocating for a society that embraces diversity and inclusivity.