John Brittain is the Olie W. Rauh Professor of Law at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law, where he also served as Acting Dean from 2018 to 2019. Brittain writes and litigates on issues of civil and human rights, especially in education. He has served on legal teams for landmark education equity cases and has participated in filing nearly a dozen briefs in the United States Supreme Court. Previously, he served as Dean of the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University, tenured law professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law, and Chief Counsel and Senior Deputy Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. In 2013, he was named to the Charles Hamilton Houston Chair at North Carolina Central University School of Law. Brittain has been president of the National Lawyers’ Guild, a member of the Executive Committee and the Board of the ACLU, and legal counsel to the NAACP. In 1993, the NAACP awarded him the prestigious William Robert Ming Advocacy Award for legal service to the NAACP without a fee. Brittain has traveled extensively on international human rights investigations across the world. He has also served on the board of directors of the Hartford Community Foundation and represented many individuals in pro bono cases.

LPI Senior Fellows are invited based on their demonstrated expertise in the field and engagement with LPI’s mission to advance equitable, high-quality education through nonpartisan, evidence-based research. Beyond their collaborative efforts with LPI, the views and opinions expressed by LPI Senior Fellows are their own and do not reflect those of the institute.