L. Song Richardson
Chancellor's Professor of Law, UCI School of Law
L. Song Richardson is Chancellor’s Professor of Law at the University of California, Irvine School of Law, where she previously served as Dean. She returned to UCI in 2024 after serving as the 14th President of Colorado College, where she led efforts to expand access and affordability, broke fundraising records, and prioritized civic engagement and mental health resources for students.
A civil rights lawyer by training, Richardson began her career as a public defender in Seattle and as counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund before spending two decades in legal academia. Her work has consistently focused on dismantling barriers to educational opportunity and addressing the impacts of bias on institutional decision-making.
Richardson is a longtime Orange County community leader, recognized among the county’s 100 Most Influential business and opinion shapers and one of its two most influential Korean Americans. The Thurgood Marshall Bar Association of Orange County established the L. Song Richardson Legacy Award in her honor. She currently serves on the boards of the American Association of Colleges & Universities and Lord Abbett, and is an elected member of the American Law Institute. Her additional honors include the AALS Derrick Bell Award, the NAPABA Trailblazer Award, and the Council of Korean Americans’ Empower Award.
She holds an A.B. from Harvard College and a J.D. from Yale Law School.
