About Us
Our History
Executive Director Robert S. Chang, professor of law, founded the Korematsu Center — named for pioneering civil rights hero Fred T. Korematsu — in 2009 at the Seattle University School of Law with the mission to use litigation advocacy, clinical education, and research to promote racial equity and social justice. The Korematsu Center and Professor Chang moved to the UC Irvine School of Law in July 2024.
Fred T. Korematsu and His Legacy
During World War II, 22-year-old Fred T. Korematsu defied military orders to report to a government incarceration camp. His refusal to obey the exclusion order led to his arrest and conviction in 1942. Korematsu appealed his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which upheld his conviction in 1944 on the ground that the removal and incarcerartion of Japanese Americans was justified by “military necessity.”
Forty years later, Korematsu filed suit to reopen his case based on new evidence that the government had suppressed, altered and destroyed material evidence that contradicted its claim of military necessity. In 1983, a federal court judge granted Korematsu’s petition and vacated his conviction.
Korematsu remained an activist throughout his life, not only seeking redress for Japanese Americans who were wrongfully incarcerated, but also advocating for the civil rights of other victims of excessive government action. President Bill Clinton awarded Korematsu the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998. In 2010, California designated January 30 as the Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties and the Constitution, marking the first statewide day in U.S. history named after an Asian American. In 2021, the Roosevelt Institute posthumously awarded the Freedom Medal to Korematsu.
Our Team
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Robert Chang
Founder and Executive Director
Professor of Law and Sylvia Mendez Presidential Chair for Civil Rights -
Shaleen Shanbhag
Director
Korematsu Center Leadership
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Sameer Ashar
Clinical Professor of Law
School of Law -
Swethaa Ballakrishnen
Professor of Law
School of Law -
Mario Barnes
Chancellor's Professor of Law
School of Law -
Mehrsa Baradaran
Professor of Law
School of Law -
Veena Dubal
Professor of Law
School of Law -
Kaaryn Gustafson
Professor of Law
School of Law -
Annie Lai
Clinical Professor of Law
School of Law -
Stephen Lee
Professor of Law
School of Law -
Susan McMahon
Professor of Lawyering Skills
School of Law -
Emily Penner
Associate Professor
School of Education -
Song Richardson
Chancellor's Professor of Law
School of Law -
Ji Seon Song
Assistant Professor of Law
School of Law
Korematsu Center Faculty Affiliates
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Nolan Cabrera
Professor, College of Education
University of Arizona -
Jeremiah Chin
Assistant Professor of Law
University of Washington School of Law -
Rose Cuison-Villazor
Professor of Law and Chancellor's Social Justice Scholar
Rutgers Law School -
Adrienne Davis
William M. Van Cleve Professor of Law, Founder & Co-director of the Law & Culture Initiative, Professor of Organizational Behavior and Leadership (Olin Business School)
Washington University School of Law -
Charlotte Garden
Professor of Law
Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty & Bennett Professor of Law
Minnesota Law -
Caitlin Glass
Visiting Lecturer and Clinical Instructor
Boston University School of Law -
Trina Jones
Jerome M. Culp Distinguished Professor of Law and Director, Center on Law, Race & Policy
Duke Law School -
H. Timothy Lovelace, Jr.
John Hope Frankline Research Scholar and Professor of Law
Duke Law School -
Kyung Sin "KS" Park
Professor of Law
Korea University Law School
Korematsu Center Non-resident Fellows
