UCLA School of Law professor Blake Emerson has been named a recipient of the Early Career Scholars Medal from the American Law Institute.

The award – which the ALI bestows only every other year – is among the most prestigious in the legal academy. According to the ALI, it goes “to one or two outstanding early-career law professors whose work is relevant to public policy and has the potential to influence improvements in the law. The purpose of the award is to encourage practical scholarly work.”

Emerson joined the UCLA Law faculty in 2018. An authority in American public law, he researches administrative law, structural constitutional law, and political theory. He is a frequent commentator in the media on constitutional and administrative law matters, and his many publications include the book The Public’s Law: Origins and Architecture of Progressive Democracy (Oxford University Press, 2019), which offers a history and theory of democracy in the American administrative state.

“I am thrilled that the ALI has chosen Blake for this honor,” says Michael Waterstone, UCLA Law’s dean. “He has already been active in policymaking spaces, and his work is highly relevant to pressing issues that affect the shape and structure of administrative agencies and other government actors. This medal recognizes Blake’s remarkable ability to combine rigorous legal theory with practical, policy-oriented solutions, making him an invaluable voice in the ongoing debates over the future of the administrative state.”

Emerson earned his B.A., magna cum laude, with highest honors, from Williams College; his Ph.D. with honors from Yale University; and his J.D. with honors from Yale Law School. In 2021, he received the Emerging Scholar Award from the administrative law section of the Association of American Law Schools.

Read more about Emerson’s scholarship and the ALI award.