Rate My Professor Laura Gómez

Laura E. Gómez, Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law, permanently joined the faculty in January 2024, having previously served there from 2005 to 2011. A New Mexico native born in Roswell and a graduate of Albuquerque's Valley High School, she earned an A.B. with honors in Social Studies from Harvard College in 1986 and three degrees from Stanford University: M.A. in Sociology (1988), J.D. (1992), and Ph.D. in Sociology (1994), as the first Mexican American woman to receive Stanford's J.D. and Ph.D. Prior to academia, Gómez served as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and clerked for Judge Dorothy Wright Nelson on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She began teaching as Assistant Professor at UCLA School of Law (1994–2000), attaining tenure in 2000. Later at UCLA, she held the Rachel F. Moran Endowed Chair in Law, courtesy appointments in Sociology and Chicana/Chicano & Central American Studies, and roles including Vice Dean for Faculty Research (2013–2015), Interim Dean of the Division of Social Sciences (2016–2017), and Faculty Director of the Critical Race Studies Program, which she co-founded. During her first UNM tenure, she pioneered joint appointments in law and American Studies, served as Associate Dean for Faculty Development (2007–2009), and co-directed the Institute for the Study of “Race” & Social Justice.