Akhil Reed Amar

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Akhil Reed Amar (born September 6, 1958) is an American legal scholar who specializes in U.S. constitutional law. He teaches at Yale University as a Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science, one of the university’s highest honors. Amar is known for his work on originalism, the U.S. Bill of Rights, and criminal procedure.

He grew up in Walnut Creek, California, after being born in Ann Arbor, Michigan. His parents were Indian physicians, and his father later became a professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Amar studied history and economics at Yale College, graduating summa cum laude in 1980. He then earned his law degree from Yale Law School in 1984. After law school, he clerked for Judge Stephen Breyer.

Amar joined Yale Law School as a faculty member in 1985 and became a full professor in 1990. He held the Southmayd Professorship from 1993 to 2008 and was named Sterling Professor of Law in 2008. He has taught many students who went on to become notable politicians and government officials, including Cory Booker, Michael Bennet, Chris Coons, Josh Hawley, Jake Sullivan, and Neal Katyal. His work has been cited in numerous U.S. Supreme Court cases.

He has written more than 100 law review articles and several books, such as The Words That Made Us: America’s Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840, and Born Equal: Remaking America’s Constitution, 1840-1920. Amar was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007 and received the Barry Prize for Distinguished Intellectual Achievement in 2024. A 2021 study found him to be the second-most-cited living American legal scholar under the age of 70.

Amar comes from a political and intellectual family. His brother Vikram Amar is also a legal scholar and former dean of the University of Illinois College of Law. Amar is affiliated with both the American Bar Association and the Federalist Society. He is described as a liberal and has publicly supported the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, and he has argued that overturning Roe v. Wade would not erase other privacy rights. Since 2021, he has co-hosted the podcast Amarica’s Constitution with Andy Lipka, inviting guests such as Stephen Breyer and Bob Woodward. He is married to Vinita Parkash, and they have been together since 1989.