Jennifer L. Mnookin is the 30th leader in the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s 175-year history, and one of the nation’s top legal scholars.

Chancellor Mnookin is dedicated to pushing boundaries to bring the university to new levels of excellence in research and education, and to energizing and expanding the Wisconsin Idea, UW–Madison’s commitment to innovating for the public good.

She recently launched the largest cross-campus initiative in the university’s history — called Wisconsin RISE (Research, Innovation, and Scholarly Excellence) — to expand educational opportunities and research at UW–Madison around significant, complex challenges affecting Wisconsin and the world.

Prior to coming to Wisconsin, Chancellor Mnookin served as dean of the UCLA School of Law, where she spent 17 years on the faculty. Before that, she was a professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law and a visiting professor of law at Harvard Law School.

Chancellor Mnookin is a nationally recognized scholar on the intersection of law and science, and recently co-chaired an expert report on facial recognition technologies for the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

She received her AB from Harvard University, her JD from Yale Law School, and a PhD in history and social study of science and technology from MIT. She is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.