Vanita Gupta ’01, former US associate attorney general, and Dana Remus, former White House counsel to President Joe Biden, will join NYU Law on September 1 as Distinguished Scholars in Residence.
Gupta, an expert on policing, criminal justice, violence reduction, strategic advocacy and campaigns, and voting and elections, will engage in a range of teaching and program activities. She will advise students pursuing public interest and government careers; support NYU Law’s Legislative & Regulatory Process Clinic, located in Washington, DC; and work with the Law School’s Policing Project as a senior advisor focused on government use of AI. Gupta will also engage with the NYU Law community through forums, lectures, and colloquia.
As associate attorney general, Gupta oversaw 13 divisions encompassing the Department of Justice’s civil litigation and grantmaking offices. She led initiatives that included trust building between police and communities, reproductive rights, and environmental justice before stepping down in February 2024. Gupta had previously served as president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division during the Obama administration, deputy legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union, and assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Between 2008 and 2014, she taught a civil rights litigation clinic at NYU Law.
Remus, who will teach in the Legislative & Regulatory Process Clinic, is a partner in the DC office of Covington & Burling, where she specializes in issues related to public policy, regulatory enforcement, election and political law, congressional investigations, and ethics. Now lead outside counsel for the Harris-Walz presidential campaign, Remus, along with former US attorney general Eric Holder, assisted Vice President Kamala Harris in vetting her potential running mates. Before her time as White House counsel, she was general counsel for the Biden-Harris campaign and general counsel of the Obama Foundation. She served as deputy White House counsel for ethics in the Obama administration. Earlier in her professional career, Remus was a professor of law at the University of North Carolina, where she specialized in judicial ethics and the regulation of the legal profession.
“Vanita Gupta and Dana Remus are highly accomplished public servants who will bring unparalleled knowledge to our Law School community, both inside and outside the classroom,” said Dean Troy McKenzie ’00. “I couldn’t be happier to welcome them to their new roles at NYU Law.”
Posted August 14, 2024