Breaking Barriers at Harvard Law School

Considered as an “A list celebrity” in the world of law, Jeannie Suk recently became the first Asian American woman to receive tenure at Harvard Law School.  At a young age, Suk was already passionate about becoming a lawyer.  Her passion to become a lawyer was intrigued by the idea of arguing cases in front of a jury.

Suk was born in Seoul, Korea. When her father was given the opportunity to attend a medical training program in the U.S., her family immigrated here. Suk commented, “I’ve never totally understood how one undertakes the momentous decision to start a life in a new country.” Fortunately for Suk’s family, her family did not immigrant to the U.S. alone.  Instead, they came along with her father’s classmates, where they shared a common goal and provided support for each other – forming a community.  Now, Suk’s father is a physician and owns his own private practice; her mother manages the business in Flushing, New York.

Suk was six years old when she came to the US and similar to most immigrants, she had no command of the English language.  Suk recalls, “It was extremely difficult to be dropped into first grade without speaking any English, probably the most difficult experience I have ever had in my life.”  Suk grew up in Queens, New York.

In 1995, Suk received her Bachelor of Arts from Yale University in literature.  She continued her education by attending Oxford University to receive her Doctor of Philosophy in 1999.  Following Oxford, Suk attended Harvard Law School in 2002, where she obtained her Juris Doctor.

Suk’s current research interests include criminal law and procedure, family, art, and entertainment law.  “My interests in art and entertainment law are probably related to my background in the arts, particularly music and dance, which I studied,” said Suk. “As for criminal law and family law, these interests developed through law school and in my subsequent jobs clerking on the D.C. Circuit and the Supreme Court, as well as working as a prosecutor in New York where I saw many criminal cases involving families.”

The topic of many ethnic Americans facing “glass ceiling” barriers still arises among us.  Undoubtedly, Suk broke many barriers that confronted with being a female or an Asian American.

“Many Asian Americans have the story of being in a workplace and having the people you work with constantly confuse you with someone else because the other person is Asian American too.” Suk said. “It can be undermining when you are trying to establish yourself in a new job and to have to struggle to have your basic individuality recognized. Of course this happened a bit when I was prosecuting.”

Suk described herself as not the typical “pre-existing image of a Harvard Law professor.”  Suk recollected, “When I came to Harvard Law School as a professor, I was the only Asian American woman around and I looked young.” One thing about her achievement that Suk finds humorous is the reaction on people’s faces when they realize that she is a professor.  The most common reaction that she gets is a shocked looked accompanied by the question, “YOU are a professor?”

Suk believes, “Eventually Asian American professors will be a dime a dozen, and I won’t be so unusual, so I figure I will enjoy chuckling at surprising people now, while it lasts.”
When Suk was asked whether she felt that she had faced any challenges in receiving tenure at Harvard Law because she was the first Asian American woman, Suk answered, “Of course there are challenges in working toward tenure, but I believe I faced nothing more challenging than other colleagues in the same position.”  She said, “I have felt very comfortable at Harvard, first very encouraged by my teachers, and then embraced and supported by colleagues.  Also I joined the faculty at Harvard at a time when we had the first woman Dean of Harvard Law School, and the first woman President of Harvard University.”

Suk’s accomplishments include receiving prestigious awards, such as the Guggenheim Fellowship, Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, and the Marshall fellowship.

In addition, Suk has several published works.  Suk’s work, “At Home in the Law: How the Domestic Violence Revolution is Transforming Privacy,” received the Herbert Jacob Prize by the Law and Society Association.

Today, Suk’s class at Harvard Law School is one of the highly coveted courses.  Michelle Wu, Harvard Law Student and Political & Outreach Co-chair of the Harvard Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, was enticed to Suk’s class.  Wu said, “I ranked Professor Suk’s class as my top choice in the course selection lottery because there is nothing else like it at Harvard Law School, or any other law school.  The subject matter involved exploring the intersections and interplay between two integral parts of my own life, performing arts and the law.  Moreover, the professors were uniquely suited to teach it.  I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a class taught by both Jeannie Suk, the Harvard Asian Pacific American Law Students Association’s faculty sponsor, and Damian Woetzel, former ballet star and current arts expert.”

Wu was left with an outstanding experience and described Suk’s class as “an incredible experience” where she was given the opportunity to meet with experts.  Wu noted. “Each class session focused on a different intersection between performing arts and the law, featuring special guests to guide our conversation.  For instance, playwright John Guare came to explore the tension between protecting creative works without stifling inspiration; Leslie Rosenthal, general counsel of the Lincoln Center, came to share her experiences as chief legal officer for the world’s premiere performing arts center.”  Wu was able to vividly recount her experience in Suk’s class.  Wu praised Suk’s class by calling it a class that is beyond ordinary.

Jeannie Suk recently became the first Asian American woman to receive tenure at Harvard Law School. (Courtesy of Jeannie Suk)

This entry was posted on Friday, June 10th, 2011 at 4:58 pm. It is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.