Following graduation from Columbia Law School as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, Professor Dyson practiced law with the firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions, securities and leverage buyouts valued at approximately $166 billion. Professor Dyson has also participated in the landmark school finance litigation and in federal civil rights enforcement as the Special Projects team attorney for the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) where he was recognized for his work in inter-district funding cases. A member of the Bar of the U.S Supreme Court, he has also served as the national chairperson of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Education Law, the national executive board member of the AALS Section of Minority Groups, and a program coordinator of the Merrill Lynch Philanthropic Foundation recognized by the White House. In addition, he has served as educational policy adviser to the Texas State Legislature Joint Select Committee on Public School Finance, and has taught law on the faculties of Columbia University, the City University of New York, and Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.
Professor Dyson is the recipient of numerous awards including the prestigious King's Crown Award, the Kluge Award, the Albert Roothbert Endowment, the Lester A. and Stella Porter Russell Endowment, the Society of the Order of the Barristers, the Taft Samuel Carpenter Award for Teaching Excellence, and the 50 under 50 most influential law professors national list. Professor Dyson has also published Our Promise, a new book analyzing educational policy and numerous articles in education, civil rights, game theory, government, constitutional law, sociology and critical race theory among others. He is also the faculty co-founder of the Crawford Legal Institute Mentorship Bond (CLIMB) program, an educational pipeline mentorship initiative with Crawford High School that recently won the California State Bar Diversity Award for Excellence.
Courses include:
Education Equality and The Law, Torts I & II, Global Justice, Self-Determination & The Law, Scholarly Legal Writing.
Our Promise: Achieving Educational Equity for America’s Children (Maurice R. Dyson & Daniel B. Weddle eds., Carolina Academic Press, 2009)
Promise Zones, Poverty & the Future of Public Schools: Confronting the Challenges of Socioeconomic Integration & School Culture in High Poverty Schools, Mich. St. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2015)
Still Using The Wrong Yardstick: Measuring Quality by the Proxies of Rumor, Bias and Conformity, Colum. J. Gender & L. (forthcoming 2015)
Silencing Race & The First Amendment: The Suppression of Student Expression & Curricular Coverage of Racial Identity and Ethnic Solidarity in K-12 Education, 81 UMKC L. Rev. 569 (2013)
Are We Really Racing to The Top or Leaving Behind the Bottom? Challenging Conventional Wisdom and Dismantling Institutional Repression, 40 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol'y 181 (2012)
The Hidden Law: Uncovering the Spiritual Foundations for Transformative Legal Reform, 4 J. App. Econ. 167 (2010)
Bringing Every Child Forward: Lessons Learned Under No Child Left Behind & a Road Map for Obama’s Educational Reform, 19 Temp. Pol. & Civ. Rts. L. Rev. 63 (2009) (with Philip T.K. Daniel)
De Facto Segregation & Group Blindness: Proposals for Narrow Tailoring under a New Viable State Interest in PICS v. Seattle School District, 77 UMKC L. Rev. 697 (2009)
When Government is a Passive Participant in Private Discrimination: A Critical Look at White Privilege & the Tacit Return to Interposition in PICS v. Seattle School District, 40 U. Tol. L. Rev. 145 (2008)
Awakening an Empire of Liberty: Exploring the Roots of Socractic Inquiry & Political Nihilism in American Democracy, 83 St. Louis L. Rev. 575 (currently Wash. U.L.Q.) (2005)
Towards an Establishment Clause Theory of Race-Based Allocation: Administering Race-Conscious Financial Aid after Grutter and Zelman, 14 S. Cal. Interdisc. L.J. 237 (2005)
Racial Free-Riding the Coattails of a Dream Deferred: Can I Borrow Your Social Capital? 13 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts J. 967 (2005)
The Death of Robin Hood? Proposals to Overhaul Public School Finance, 11 Geo. J. On Poverty L. & Pol'y 1 (2004)
Putting Quality Back Into Equality: The Constitutionality of Charter School Enabling Legislation in a Post-Grutter Era, 36 Rutgers L.J. 1 (2004)
Playing Games with Equality: A Game-Theoretic Critique of Educational Sanctions, Remedies and Strategic Noncompliance, 77 Temp. L. Rev. 577 (2004)
Multiracial Identity, Monoracial Authenticity & Racial Privacy: Towards an Adequate Theory of Multiracial Resistance, 9 Mich. J. Race & L. 387 (2004)
Safe Rules or Gay Schools: The Dilemma of Sexual Orientation Segregation in Public Education, 7 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 183 (with N. Harris) (2004)
In Search of the Talented Tenth: Diversity, Affirmative Access, and University-Driven Reform, 6 Harv. Latino L. Rev. 41 (2003)
Leave No Child Behind: Normative Proposals to Link Educational Adequacy Claims and High Stakes Assessment Due Process Challenges, 7 Tex. F. On C.L. & C.R. 1 (2002)
School Finance and Educational Ultimatums: A Look at School Funding Implications for Public School Accountability, 2 Conn. Pub. Int. L.J. 1 (2002)
A Covenant Broken: The Crisis of Educational Remedy for New York City's Failing Schools, 44 How. L.J. 107 (2000)
Rethinking School-Community Collaboration: The Role of Non-Profit Mergers & Joint Ventures in Remedial Education and Social Service Delivery, 16 Natl. Black L.J. 35 (1998) (Note)
Other Scholarship:
Pursuing Excellence: Diversity In Higher Education, Women & the Law Conference, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, CA (February 5, 2016)
School To Prison Pipeline & The Prison Industrial Complex, Race, Poverty & Mass Incarceration, University of San Francisco School of Law, USD Law and the Western Regional BLSA , University of San Diego School of Law, San Diego (January 10, 2016)
Challenging Adequacy Notions in School Finance, Education Summit, National Bar Association, Washington University School of Law at St. Louis, St Louis, MO (April 24, 2015)
National Bar Association Education Summit, Washington University School of Law at St. Louis, St. Louis, MO (March 10, 2015)
The More Things Change…: Exploring Solutions to Persisting Discrimination in Legal Academia, AALS Cross-Cutting Program, Washing, D.C. (January 29, 2015)
Dismantling the School To Prison Pipeline, School to Prison Pipeline Roundtable, KPBS Radio & the Anti-Defamation League, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego (September 19, 2014)
The 60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, UMKC Law School, in conjunction with Michigan State Law School , Kansas City, MO (April 11, 2014)
The CLIMB Mentorship Pipeline Project: A Response To The School-To-Prison Pipeline Crisis, Public Interest Law Foundation, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, CA (November 14, 2012)
The First Amendment & the School House, 40 Years of Landmark School Speech Cases: Through the Eyes of Those Who Were There, UMKC Law School, Kansas City, MO (September 20, 2012)
Faculty Guest Speaker, CLIMB Program, Crawford Legal Institute Mentorship Bond Program, Crawford High School, San Diego, CA (March 29, 2012)
Race to the Top Initiative, Washington University Law School, St. Louis, MO (March 21, 2012)
The elimination of bias in the practice of law, California Foothills Bar Association , El Cajon, CA (January 9, 2012)
The Pipeline: An Examination of Minority Male Recruitment and Retention in U.S. Law Schools, Black Male Initiative, City University of New York School of Law, Flushing, NY, Mar 26 - 27, 2009
Educational Finance and Funding, A New Wave of School Finance, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Mid-Atlantic People of Color Conference, Philadelphia, PA, Jan 24, 2009
Education and the Economy, Discriminatory School Resource Allocation in PICS v. Seattle School District No. 1, Northeast People of Color Conference, Boston University School of Law, Boston, MA, Sept 25, 2008
Racial Discrimination and Accountability in U.S. Public Education: A Closer Look at the Nation's Compliance Under The Convention for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Treaty, Law and Society Conference, Montreal, Canada, 2008
Brown Undone? The Future of Integration in Seattle after PICS v. SSD No. 1, Seattle University School of Law, Achieving Racial Diversity in the Classroom after PICS c. SSD In A Legal and Socially Responsible Manner, 2008
Center for Constitutional and Humanitarian Law, American University College of Law, panel entitled Discrimination in Public Education: Intent v. Impact?, Discrimination in The Discriminatory Impact of U.S. Education Law on the Human Rights of Racial Minorities: Who's Really Being Left Behind?, 2007
School Transfers, Charter Schools and School Funding, invited at the University of Toledo School of Law, Jan. 29, 2007
African American Charter Schools, Robin Hood & The No Child Left Behind Act: A Triple Entendre in the Battle For Educational Equality, presented at Florida A&M University College of Law, Jan. 10, 2007
2007 AALS Annual Education Law Section Panel, conceived, organized, moderated and panelists selected by Maurice Dyson, The Assault on Academic Freedom in the Academy: Exploring the Intersectionalities of Race, Religion and Gender in Higher Education, co-sponsored in conjunction with the Section on Minority Groups, Jan. 4, 2007
Charter Schools, the No Child Left Behind Act: Avenues for Reform, presented at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, Dec. 12, 2006
Choice & The Illusion of Choice, Valparaiso University School of Law, Valparaiso, IN (December 14, 2006)
Reinforcing School Choice Provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act: Possible Solutions for Systematic Reform, presented at Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law, Dec. 8, 2006
The No Child Left Behind Act & Wealth Recapture, presented at Drexel University College of Law, Oct. 20, 2006
2006 AALS Speaker: The Clash of the Titans: (Section on Education Law, Washington, D.C.)
2006 Annual AALS Minority Groups Section Panel, The Fate of Minority Inter-Group Collaboration or Conflict, conceived, organized, moderated and panelists selected by Maurice Dyson (invited speaker for January 2006, Section on Education Law)
The Role of Education In The Poor People's Campaign, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX (January 22, 2005)
Educational Experts: School Finance & Legislative Issues: A Talk With SMU Prof. Maurice Dyson, 2005
2nd Northeast Regional People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference: America, Race, and Law at the Crossroads, Hosted at The George Washington University Law School, Oct. 2004
Opportunity To Learn discussing Dyson, Leave No Child Behind: Normative Proposals To Link Educational Adequacy Claims To High Stakes Assessment Challenges, sponsored by the University of California at Berkeley and the Policy Analysis for California Education, PACE, Oct. 2003
Critical Race Theory Workshop, American University Washington College of Law sponsored by Darren Hutchinson, Pamela Bridgewater, Devon Carbado, Letti Volp and others, Apr. 2003
School Funding and Educational Ultimatums: A Look At School Funding Implications For Public School Accountability, presented at The Educational Funding Deficit, sponsored by the University of Connecticut Law School & the University of Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal, Apr. 2002
Finance and Educational Ultimatums: A Look At School Funding Implications For Public School Accountability, Connecticut Public Interest Law Journal, 2002 symposium
