Katharine Baker is the Aliber Family Chair in Law at the University of Iowa College of Law.  

She is an expert in Family Law, specifically the modern law of marriage and parenthood. Her scholarship focuses on the intersection of women’s intimate lives and the law. Baker has written extensively on sexual violence and misconduct, especially among young adults on college campuses. She problematizes 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.   

Her work has been published in leading law journals such as the Harvard Law Review, Yale Law Journal, and the University of Chicago Law Review. She co-authored Family Law: The Essentials and numerous book chapters. 

An award-winning teacher, Baker has taught 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. 

Before coming to the University of Iowa, Baker served as associate dean for faculty development at Chicago-Kent and as associate dean for administration and strategic initiatives. She has visited at Yale Law School, University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Northwestern Law School.

Publications