Michael Ashley Stein

Professor Michael Ashley Stein is the co-founder and Executive Director of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability, and a Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School since 2005. Considered one of the world’s leading experts on disability law and policy, Dr. Stein participated in the drafting of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; works with disabled peoples’ organizations and non-governmental organizations around the world; actively consults with governments on their disability laws and policies; advises an array of UN bodies and national human rights institutions; and has brought landmark disability rights litigation globally. Professor Stein has received numerous awards in recognition of his transformative work, including the National Order of Merit (Ecuador); USICD Dole/Harkin Award; Morton E. Ruderman Prize; Henry Viscardi Achievement Award; ABA Paul G. Hearne Award; and Harvard University Excellence in Accessibility and Inclusion Faculty Award. His authoritative and path-breaking scholarship of 288 academic publications and 11 books have been published worldwide by leading journals and academic presses and supported by fellowships and awards from the American Council of Learned Societies, National Endowment for the Humanities, and National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation and Research, among others. Dr. Stein teaches at Harvard Law School and Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and holds an Extraordinary Professorship at the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Rights. He earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School (becoming the first known person with a disability to be a member of the Harvard Law Review), and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University (W.M. Tapp Studentship). Professor Stein was appointed by President Obama to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council.