Laverne Jacobs

Laverne Jacobs is a full Professor at the University of Windsor, Faculty of Law. She is also an elected expert member of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Professor Jacobs is the first Canadian to serve on this UN Human Rights Treaty Body.

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Professor Jacobs is Chair of the Working Group on Communications and Inquiries on the CRPD Committee. She is also the Committee Rapporteur. 

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A former Associate Dean (Research & Graduate Studies), Professor Jacobs teaches, researches and writes in the areas of persons with disabilities and the law, administrative law, administrative justice and human rights. She is the lead author and general editor of the first textbook in Canada on law and disability, which was published in 2021. She has published and presented widely in her fields, both in Canada and internationally. She currently holds the Research Chair in Disability Equality & Administrative Justice at Windsor Law.

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Dr. Jacobs founded and directs The Law, Disability & Social Change Project,  a research centre at Windsor Law that works to foster and develop inclusive communities. She is also Co-Director of the Disability Rights Working Group at Berkeley Law’s Center for Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law.  

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Dr. Jacobs is the recipient of several awards for her research, scholarship and community engagement. These include the Canadian Bar Association Touchstone Award, the Canadian Association of Law Teachers (CALT) Academic Excellence Award, the Research Excellence Award (Established Researcher Category, University of Windsor), and the DisAbled Women’s Network (DAWN) Hummingbird Award.