Biography

Linda S. Greene is Evjue-Bascom Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Her teaching and academic scholarship are concentrated in the areas of Constitutional Law, Civil Procedure, Legislation, Civil Rights and Sports Law. Professor Greene has also held administrative positions at the University including, from 1999 to 2004, serving as Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Following graduation from the University of California at Berkeley Law School in 1974, Professor Greene began her career as a civil rights attorney on the staff of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in New York City. There she litigated employment discrimination and housing discrimination class actions. She was also involved in capital punishment litigation. She began law teaching in 1978, first at Assistant Professor at Temple University and later a tenured Associate Professor at University of Oregon. Professor Greene has been a visiting professor at Harvard and Georgetown law schools, and also has taught abroad in Germany, Ghana, and Japan. From 1986 to 1989, Professor Greene was Counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee where she specialized in matters involving judicial confirmation, federal courts and constitutional law. She provided legal advice in connection with the nomination and confirmation of federal court judges by the U.S. Senate, including consideration of five Supreme Court nominees. During a leave of absence from this position in 1988, she was a senior advisor to the Jackson and Dukakis Democratic Presidential Campaigns. Professor Greene joined the University of Wisconsin Law School faculty in 1989. In addition to her teaching and scholarship, she has served on many important committees affecting the University community including the University Committee, the Athletic Board, the Social Studies (Sciences) Executive Committee, and the Law School Faculty Appointments Committee. For five years she was associate Vice Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Madison. During this time she led UW Madison's faculty strategic hiring effort that increased the numbers of women scientists and engineers, minority faculty, and interdisciplinary hires. Her responsibilities included new faculty programs, dean and department chair professional development, and women faculty mentoring program. She conducted a campus wide review of women faculty salaries, initiated a faculty wide salary review process, was Faculty Ombudsperson, and established a campus-wide ombuds office. Outside of the University, Professor Greene has lead efforts to recruit minorities and women into academia through, among other things, serving as President of the Society of American Law Teachers and as Chair of the American Association of Law Schools Section on Minority Groups. She also is involved in promoting equal opportunity in sports and athletics. Professor Greene is a co-founder of the Black Women in Sport Foundation, and has also lead efforts to diversify coaching and administrative ranks in intercollegiate athletics. For twelve years she was a leader in the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), where she chaired the USOC Legislation Committee, was vice chair of the USOC Audit Committee and a co-author of the USOC diversity policies. She is also an avid supporter of the arts. She served for six years as a Board member of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art and was also a member of its Permanent Collection Committee. She is a public speaker on many topics as well as a political and legal analyst for print, radio, and television. In Wisconsin, she is well known for her hundreds of appearances for ten years on Weekend, Wisconsin Public Television's news and public affairs show.