Symposium: Celebrating Dean Kevin Johnson
UC Davis Law Review is celebrating immprof co-blogger and former UC Law Dean Kevin Johnson's legacy of transformative scholarship and leadership as the longest serving dean and one of the most widely cited immigration professors in the academy with a symposium and special issue. It takes place in-person 10/31/2025 at King Hall and will be simultaneously livestreamed.
Each panel showcases a dimension of Dean John's contributions to the academy. The first panel consists of current or former faculty at UC Davis and highlights the intersections of immigration law and race in scholarship. Each scholar reflected on the imprint of Dean John's ideas on the field, earning him the accolade of being the most cited immigration law professor and one of the top 250 cited scholars in any field, by presenting new research that employs these insights.
- Jennifer Chacón, Stanford Law School (former UC Davis School of Law faculty)
- Rose Cuison-Villazor, Rutgers Law School (former UC Davis School of Law faculty)
- Gabriel "Jack" Chin, UC Davis School of Law
- Leticia Saucedo, UC Davis School of Law
- Moderator: Lisa Ikemoto, UC Davis School of Law
The second panel, Transforming the Legal Academy, acknowledges Dean John's pioneering achievements as the first Latino editor of the Harvard Law Review and Latino dean of a law school. It's main purposes, however, is to showcase his leadership to facilitate the "firsts" for others in the faculty, especially faculty who are underrepresented minorities in the legal academy. This career commitment earned him the AALS Michael Olivas Leadership Award and resulted in UC Davis becoming the first majority-minority faculty in a law school while also regularly appearing on lists of the top 25 law schools. Speakers included faculty, classmates, and mentees from Dean John's career.
- Chris Cameron, Southwestern Law School
- Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Boston University School of Law (former UC Davis School of Law faculty)
- Jasmine Harris, University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (former UC Davis School of Law faculty)
- Meera Deo, Southwestern Law School
- Moderator: Irene Oritseweyinmi Joe, UC Davis School of Law
Leadership and Mentorship at American Law Schools, headlined by deans and leaders groomed at UC Davis, displays the reach of Dean Johnson's influence beyond his own school and his own fields of scholarship.
- Afra Afsharipour, UC Davis School of Law
- Raquel Aldana, UC Davis School of Law
- Madhavi Sunder, Georgetown University Law Center (former UC Davis School of Law faculty)
- Christiana Ochoa, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
- Moderator: Katherine Florey, UC Davis School of Law
Yet more faculty colleagues will speak to the unexpected places where his influence can be seen, including the ways he has advanced racial justice through civil procedure.
- Jasmine Gonzales Rose, Boston University School of Law
- Suzette Malveaux, Washington and Lee University School of Law
- Keeshea Turner Roberts, Widener University Delaware Law School
- Jayanth K. Krishnan, Indiana University Maurer School of Law
- Moderator: Aaron Tang, UC Davis School of Law
Closing the symposium will be a keynote lecture from a seminal critical race theory and LatCrit scholar, Richard Delgado, and reflections from Dean Johnson himself.
Congratulations, Dean Johnson! And thank you for your enduring contributions... including those to come in the next phase of your career as a full-time faculty member.
MHC
