Laura Portuondo Receives 2024 Haub Law Emerging Scholar Award in Women, Gender & Law

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The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University is proud to announce that Professor Laura Portuondo of the University of Houston Law Center has been selected as the winner of the 2024–2025 Haub Law Emerging Scholar Award in Women, Gender & Law for her paper Gendered Liberty, 113 Geo. L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2025). Professor Portuondo is an Assistant Professor; she teaches Constitutional Law and Reproductive Rights and Justice.

Professor Portuondo’s research focuses on tensions between First and Fourteenth Amendment law and theories for reconciling them. She is a constitutional law scholar with expertise in reproductive rights and justice, gender equality, and the First Amendment. Her recent scholarship has also appeared in the Duke Law Journal, the UCLA Law Review, and the Journal of Law & Religion.

Professor Portuondo received her JD from Yale Law School, where she was an Editor of the Yale Law Journal. She also holds a BA in English summa cum laude with distinction from Yale College. Prior to joining the academy, Professor Portuondo worked as a fellow at the Center for Reproductive Rights and a law clerk to Judge Katzmann (2nd Circuit) and Judge Rakoff (S.D.N.Y).

Professor Emily Gold Waldman, a member of the award selection committee and the Associate Dean for Faculty Development at Haub Law, said: “Professor Portuondo’s article is an insightful examination of the evolving landscape of constitutional rights, particularly the contrast between the Fourteenth Amendment's shrinking safeguards against gender discrimination and expanding protections for religious freedom under the First Amendment. Gendered Liberty not only illuminates these critical legal shifts, but also challenges us to rethink the broader implications for equality and liberty in our society. This work is an exciting contribution to the field, reflecting deep research and a nuanced understanding of constitutional law.”

About the Award

The Haub Law Emerging Scholar Award in Women, Gender & Law is presented annually in recognition of excellent legal scholarship related to women, gender and the law published by a full-time law professor with five or fewer years of full-time teaching experience. After an open call for submissions, papers are reviewed on a blind basis by members of the Haub Law faculty with expertise in this area. The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University invites the award recipient to present their winning scholarship to the Haub Law community.

Nominations are due by July 1 of each year and can be directed to Professor Bridget Crawford.