The Gruber Distinguished Lecture in Global Justice and the Gruber Distinguished Lecture in Women’s Rights are signature lectures open to the entire Yale community and other interested groups. The events feature speakers whose exceptional achievements have served the causes of global justice and women's rights. The lectures are often enhanced by panels and conferences. In addition, the lecturers may spend time at Yale Law School teaching a class or engaging in a range of other community activities, such as head of college's teas, faculty workshops and similar opportunities.

The Gruber Program for Global Justice and Women’s Rights is seeking nominations for Gruber Distinguished Lecturers in Women’s Rights and/or Global Justice.

The Gruber Program for Global Justice and Women's Rights seeks nominations for Gruber Distinguished Lecturers in Women’s Rights and/or Global Justice on a rolling basis. We welcome nominations of individuals whose exceptional achievements, across diverse fields and disciplines, have promoted and protected global justice and/or women’s rights. Please include relevant background, including biographical information, key publications, and news articles, as well as suggestions for Yale faculty members whose work might be of particular relevance to the nominated lecturer (and vice versa). Please email nominations to gruber.events@yale.edu.

Gruber Distinguished Lectures in Women’s Rights


Dr. Natalia Kanem

Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund

Ai-jen Poo

Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Co-director of the Caring Across Generations campaign

Dr. Asma Jahangir

Formerly served as the President and chairperson of Pakistan’s Supreme Court Bar Association and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

Catherine Lhamon

Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

United States Supreme Court

Dr. Zainab Salbi

Founder of Women for Women International

Ruth Rubio-Marín

Professor of Constitutional Law, Universidad de Sevilla

Cecile Richards

Co-founder, Supermajority

Jocelyn Samuels

Vice Chair, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Sara Nelson

International President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, AFL-CIO

Gruber Distinguished Lectures in Global Justice


Esther Duflo

Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; co-founder and co-director, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)

Dr. Kumi Naidoo

Chair of the Board for Africans Rising for Justice Peace and Dignity

Dr. Rebecca Gomperts

Founder and Director of Women on Waves and Women on Web

Alexander Aleinikoff

Deputy High Commissioner in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Dr. Paul Farmer

Co-founder of Partners in Health

Luis Moreno Ocampo

First Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court

Dr. Shirin Ebadi

Nobel Peace Prize Winner and Iranian human rights activist

Dr. Rev. William J. Barber II

President and Senior Lecturer, Repairers of the Breach

Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha

Pediatrician, Professor, and Public Health Advocate

Vivek Maru

Chief Executive Officer, Namati