Lisa Fairfax

{{Short description|American legal scholar (born 1970)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}} {{Infobox academic | name = Lisa Fairfax | image = Lisa M. Fairfax (cropped).jpg | caption = Fairfax in 2022 | education = Harvard University (BA, JD) | discipline = Law | workplaces = George Washington University<br>University of Pennsylvania | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1970}} | sub_discipline = Business law | children = 3 | spouse = Roger Fairfax }}

'''Lisa M. Fairfax''' (born 1970) is an American legal scholar who is a Presidential Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She was previously Alexander Hamilton Professor of Business Law at the George Washington University Law School.

== Early life and education == Fairfax was raised by a single parent in Compton, California.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Green |first1=Erica L. |title=Ketanji Brown Jackson Fought Injustices While at Harvard |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/20/us/politics/ketanji-brown-jackson-harvard.html |access-date=March 23, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=March 20, 2022 |quote=Judge Jackson would often deliver advice from her parents to her three roommates, all of whom came from single-parent households...Ms. Fairfax, who grew up in a predominately Black and Latino community in Compton, Calif..."}}</ref> She attended Harvard University and Harvard Law School,<ref>{{cite news |title=Professor Lisa M. Fairfax |url=https://www.ali.org/members/member/456323/ |access-date=March 22, 2022 |publisher=American Law Institute}}</ref> where she met and became friends with Ketanji Brown Jackson.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yeo |first1=Suzanne |title=Lifelong friends open up about Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson |url=https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Living/lifelong-friends-open-supreme-court-nominee-ketanji-brown/story?id=83337328 |access-date=March 22, 2022 |publisher=ABC News |date=March 9, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's friends from Harvard not surprised by her Supreme Court nomination: "It had to be her" |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-ketanji-brown-jackson-friends-harvard/ |access-date=March 22, 2022 |publisher=CBS News |date=March 18, 2022}}</ref>

== Career == Fairfax began her teaching career at the University of Maryland School of Law, then joined the faculty of the George Washington University Law School in 2009,<ref name="wsjackerman">{{Cite news |last=Ackerman |first=Andrew |date=2016-03-14 |title=SEC Nominee Lisa Fairfax Is Diversity Advocate and Law Professor |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/sec-nominee-lisa-fairfax-is-diversity-advocate-and-law-professor-1457979228 |access-date=2022-03-21 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref> where she was Alexander Hamilton Professor of Business Law.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.law.upenn.edu/faculty/fairfaxl |title=Lisa Fairfax |access-date=March 22, 2022 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Law School}}</ref> Fairfax is affiliated with the Democratic Party.<ref name="wsjmichaelsd">{{cite news |last1=Michaels |first1=Dave |title=SEC Nominees Face Sharp Questioning at Confirmation Hearing |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/sec-nominees-face-sharp-questioning-at-confirmation-hearing-1458067960 |access-date=March 22, 2022 |work=Wall Street Journal |date=March 15, 2016}}</ref> In October 2015, President Barack Obama nominated Fairfax to serve as a member of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,<ref>{{cite news |date=October 20, 2015 |title=Professor Lisa M. Fairfax Nominated by President Barack Obama to Serve as Commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission |publisher=George Washington University Law School |url=https://www.law.gwu.edu/professor-lisa-m-fairfax-nominated-president-barack-obama-serve-commissioner-securities-and-exchange |access-date=March 22, 2022}}</ref><ref name="ampresproj">{{cite news |title=Press Release - President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts |work=The American Presidency Project |publisher=University of California, Santa Barbara |url=https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/press-release-president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts-65}}</ref> though she was never confirmed.<ref name="wsjackerman"/><ref name="wsjmichaelsd" /> In 2020, Fairfax was elected a member of the American Law Institute.<ref>{{cite news |title=Professor Lisa Fairfax Elected to American Law Institute |url=https://www.law.gwu.edu/professor-lisa-fairfax-elected-american-law-institute |access-date=March 22, 2022 |publisher=George Washington University Law School |date=October 27, 2020}}</ref> In 2021, Fairfax joined the University of Pennsylvania Law School and was named to a Presidential Professorship.<ref>{{cite news |title=Law School adds new faculty for 2021-2022 |url=https://www.law.upenn.edu/live/news/13865-law-school-adds-new-faculty-for-2021-2022 |access-date=March 22, 2022 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Law School |date=August 18, 2021}}</ref> After Ketanji Brown Jackson was nominated to serve on the Supreme Court in 2022, Fairfax made an introductory statement at Jackson's Senate confirmation hearing.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Beals |first1=Monique |title=Former DC judge, Penn law professor to introduce Ketanji Brown Jackson at hearing |url=https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/598976-former-dc-judge-penn-law-professor-to-introduce-ketanji-brown |access-date=March 22, 2022 |work=The Hill |date=March 20, 2022}}</ref>

== Personal life == Fairfax is married to Roger Fairfax, a lawyer and dean of the Howard University School of Law.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Appointment: Dean of Howard University School of Law {{!}} Howard University President |url=https://president.howard.edu/from-the-president/viewpoints/new-appointment-dean-howard-university-school-law |website=president.howard.edu |access-date=12 January 2025 |language=en}}</ref> She has three children.<ref name="secnomstatement">{{Cite web |title=United States Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs |url=https://www.banking.senate.gov/download/2016/03/15/fairfax-statement-edit-3-15-16pdf-1 |access-date=2022-03-21 |website=www.banking.senate.gov |language=en}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}} {{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairfax, Lisa}} Category:21st-century African-American academics Category:21st-century American legal scholars Category:African-American legal scholars Category:American women legal scholars Category:21st-century African-American lawyers Category:George Washington University Law School faculty Category:University of Pennsylvania Law School faculty Category:Members of the American Law Institute Category:University of Maryland, Baltimore faculty Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Harvard College alumni Category:California lawyers Category:People from Compton, California Category:1970 births Category:Living people Lisa Category:21st-century American women lawyers