By: Maddie Schwarck

The University of Iowa College of Law is excited to welcome Katharine Baker, professor of law and Aliber Family Chair in Law. A renowned expert in family law, Baker brings expertise on marriage, parenthood, and the law’s intersection with women’s intimate lives.

Baker comes to Iowa Law after an impressive tenure at Chicago-Kent College of Law, where she served as associate dean for faculty development and later as associate dean for administration and strategic initiatives. Baker has also visited at Yale Law School, University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Northwestern Law School.

She has taught a wide range of subjects including contracts, property, family law, evidence, gender and the law, sexual orientation and the law, environmental law, and numerous seminars on feminism. She has also developed innovative experiential courses to equip students with practical skills for legal practice.

Her scholarship, which probes the ways in which law structures family, sexuality, and power, has been featured in journals such as the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law journal, and University of Chicago Law Review. She is also co-author of Family Law: The Essentials and numerous book chapters.

Much of Baker’s work focuses on the legal complexities of family in the 21st century, problematizing the law’s ability to define family in an era when marriage has grown increasingly classed and parenthood is no longer grounded in marriage or genetics. She has also written extensively on sexual violence and misconduct, particularly as they affect young adults on college campuses.

The unique educational opportunities presented by a small law school in a thriving university town drew Baker to the University of Iowa College of Law. She was charmed by the curiosity, compassion, and dedication of Iowa Law students. She notes that “Iowa Nice” seems to infect everyone in the law school building, even if more than 50% of the students come from out of state. This makes both learning and teaching more effective and enjoyable.

Baker looks forward to bringing her perspectives on Family Law and the first-year curriculum, as well as her more experiential approach to classroom teaching, to Iowa Law.

In her spare time, Baker enjoys the outdoors—walking, biking, running, and cross-country skiing whenever she can. She has grown especially fond of lunchtime constitutionals along the Iowa River.

With her expertise and genuine appreciation for the Iowa Law community, Baker is poised to make a lasting impact on both her students and the future of legal education.