Dean Johnson to Receive AALS' Inaugural Michael A. Olivas Award

Dean Kevin R. Johnson will receive the Association of American Law Schools’ inaugural Michael A. Olivas Award for Outstanding Leadership in Diversity and Mentoring in the Legal Academy. The award is a collective recognition by five AALS sections (Civil Rights, Education Law, Immigration Law, Minority Groups, and Student Services).

“I am incredibly honored to receive this award,” Johnson stated in a press release announcing the honor. “I am especially touched because Michael was a friend, colleague, and an important mentor to me. He was a brilliant, prophetic scholar, and a risk-taking and path-breaking advocate for underrepresented groups in the legal academy, and the world. I am extremely grateful to be the first recipient of the Michael A. Olivas Award.”

The award will serve as a memorial to Professor Olivas, an esteemed immigration law and higher education scholar who died in April. Olivas had most recently served as the William B. Bates Distinguished Chair in Law (Emeritus) and Director of the Institute for Higher Education Law and Governance at the University of Houston.

Johnson is the law school’s dean, Mabie-Apallas Professor of Public Interest Law and professor of Chicana/o studies at UC Davis. An internationally recognized scholar in the fields of immigration law and policy, refugee law, and civil rights, Johnson has served as dean since 2008.

During his time as dean, UC Davis Law has drawn national accolades for its focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, and for its rare majority-minority faculty. In fall 2020, Johnson created UC Davis Law's Racial Justice Speaker Series, which draws leading scholars from throughout the country.

Johnson will receive the award in January at the AALS Annual Meeting in San Diego.

The Sacramento Bee reported on Johnson's award on Dec. 3.