Barbara A. Lee

Barbara A. Lee is a distinguished professor of Human Resource Management and Law at Rutgers' School of Management and Labor Relations. Professor Lee, an attorney, teaches employment law and higher education law at Rutgers and has served as department chair, associate dean, associate provost, dean, and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Dr. Lee received her B.A. in English from the University of Vermont, her M.A. in English and Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Ohio State University, and her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. She is the author of numerous books and articles on employment law, higher education law, employment discrimination, and academic employment practices. She is the coauthor, with William A. Kaplin, Neal Hutchens, and Jacob Rooksby of The Law of Higher Education, 6th ed. (2019), A Legal Guide for Student Affairs Professionals, 2nd ed. (2009, with W. Kaplin), and Academics in Court: The Consequences of Faculty Discrimination Litigation (with George LaNoue). She is a Fellow of the National Association of College and University Attorneys, a member of the American Law Institute, and is a recipient of the Daniel Gorenstein award from Rutgers University.

Dr. Lee served on the Executive Committee of the New Jersey Bar Association’s Labor and Employment Law Section, is the past chair of the Bar Association’s Higher Education Committee, and is a former member of the board of directors of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. She is the editor of The Journal of College & University Law. She also serves as an expert witness for litigation involving employment discrimination, sexual harassment, student issues, and academic personnel decisions.

Research Initiatives: 

Professor Lee conducts research on new developments in the law that affect employers and higher education institutions. Recent work has included a study of legal issues related to dealing with employees with psychiatric disorders, the legal constraints on employers’ attempts to regulate employee use of social media, the impact of the nondiscrimination laws on dealing with students with psychiatric disorders, a retrospective analysis of the last fifty years of the law related to colleges and universities, and the legal issues related to background checks of applicants for employment.

Associated Programs: 

Human Resource Management, Industrial Relations and Human Resources, College Student Affairs (Graduate School of Education), Education Policy (Graduate School of Education).