Robin Fretwell Wilson – Roger and Stephany Joslin Professor of Law, Illinois College of Law; Director, Program in Family Law and Policy; Director, Epstein Health Law and Policy Program

Robin Fretwell Wilson is the Roger and Stephany Joslin Professor of Law at the  University of Illinois College of Law, where she directs the College of Law’s Family Law and Policy Program and the Epstein Health Law and Policy Program. She specializes in family law and health law, and her research and teaching interests also include biomedical ethics, law and religion, children and violence, and law and science. The author of many articles and eleven books, she is a frequent contributor to national and international media, and has presented her research across the world. Her scholarship has been cited in courts across the US. A member of the American Law Institute, Professor Wilson was elected in 2014 to the Executive Council of the International Society of Family Law. She is a consultant to the United Arab Emirates’ Judicial Department, assisting them to create a parallel court system for the adjudication by expatriates of family law matters using the laws of their home country or of their faith traditions. She chairs the Law and Religion section of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), and is the past chair of the AALS’ Section on Family and Juvenile Law and the AALS’ Section on Law, Medicine & Healthcare. Professor Wilson directs the Fairness for All Initiative, sponsored by the Templeton Religious Trust, providing tangible support and advice to thought-leaders, stakeholders, policymakers, and state and local legislators who seek balanced approaches that respect both LGBT rights and religious freedom. She contributed to the Utah Compromise, balancing religious liberty and LGBT rights. She is the founder and director of Tolerance Means Dialogues, and has received multiple awards for her contributions to the defense of religious freedom and fairness for all. A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, Professor Wilson clerked for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and practiced at Fulbright & Jaworski, LLP and Mayor, Day, Caldwell & Keeton, LLP.