Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University selects Sharmila L. Murthy as 2021 Haub Environmental Law Distinguished Junior Scholar

January 28, 2021
Sharmila Murthy

The Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University has selected Prof. Sharmila L. Murthy of Suffolk University Law School as the Haub Environmental Law Distinguished Junior Scholar for 2021.

Prof. Murthy is an Associate Professor and Director of Faculty Scholarship and Research at Suffolk University Law School.

“Professor Murthy's selection to receive the Haub Distinguished Junior Scholar Award is well-deserved given her widely recognized scholarship on access to drinking water, and on state and local action on global climate change,” said Prof. Jason Czarnezki, Associate Dean & Executive Director, Environmental Law Programs. “The award is meant to recognize and foster scholarly excellence in the early stages of an academic career in Environmental Law.” 

“I am honored by my selection as the Haub Environmental Law Distinguished Junior Scholar,” said Prof. Murthy. “I appreciate receiving this national recognition of my work at an early stage in my academic career.  I look forward to sharing my scholarship and ideas with the faculty and students at Haub Law.”

In 2020, Prof. Murthy was awarded the university-wide Faculty Award for Outstanding Teaching and the Innovative Teaching Award from the Center for Teaching and Scholarly Excellence. She also received the Faculty Woman of the Year Award from the Suffolk Law Women of Color Law Student Association in 2017.  She served as Chair of the Environmental Law Section of the American Association of Law Schools, which received the Section of the Year Award in 2019. 

Previously, Prof. Murthy was a Fellow at the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy and a Visiting Scholar in the Sustainability Science Program, both at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She also worked as public interest poverty lawyer through a Skadden Fellowship, and then litigated complex and class action cases. 

Prof. Murthy received her J.D. from Harvard Law School, her M.P.A. from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and her B.S. in Natural Resources from Cornell University.  She is a former U.S. Fulbright Scholar to India. She also clerked for the Honorable Martha Craig Daughtrey on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.  

The Haub Environmental Law Distinguished Junior Scholar Award is presented annually to an emerging junior environmental law professor who exhibits scholarly excellence and promise at an early stage in his or her career. Haub Law invites award recipients to present their recent scholarship to the Haub Law community. The Haub Environmental Law Faculty solicits nominations from law professors throughout the country and selects a recipient from that pool of nominations, which are due by October 15 each year and can be directed to Prof. Czarnezki.

About Elisabeth Haub School of Law

Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University offers J.D. and Masters of Law degrees in both Environmental and International Law, as well as a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) in Environmental Law. The school, housed on the University’s campus in White Plains, N.Y., opened its doors in 1976 and has over 8,500 alumni around the world. The school maintains a unique philosophy and approach to legal education that strikes an important balance between practice and theory.

Haub Law launched its Environmental Law Program in 1978, and it has long been ranked among the world’s leading university programs. Pace’s doctoral graduates teach environmental law at universities around the world. Pace’s J.D. alumni are prominent in environmental law firms, agencies and non-profit organizations across the U.S. and abroad. In 2016, the Law School received a transformational gift from the family of Elisabeth Haub, in recognition of its outstanding environmental law programs. For more information, visit www.law.pace.edu.

You May Also Like