At the start of the new year Sherrilyn Ifill will become president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund. Since 1993 she has been a professor at Francis King Carey School of Law at the University of Maryland. Earlier in her career she was an assistant counsel in the Legal Defense Fund’s New York office. She is the author of On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century (Beacon Press, 2007).
In accepting the position, Professor Ifill said, “It was a dream come true to serve as a lawyer at LDF years ago, and it is a high honor to return to this premiere institution as President and Director-Counsel. I am looking forward to working with the LDF team, allies and partners to advance an innovative 21st century civil rights practice that confronts the barriers to equality and justice in the lives of the most marginalized members of our community.”
Professor Ifill is a graduate of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. She earned her law degree at New York University.
Is she related to Gwen Ifil?