© 2024 South Carolina Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Kamala Harris' Husband, Doug Emhoff, To Teach Law At Georgetown

Doug Emhoff, here with his wife, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, last month at the Downtown Holiday Market in Washington, D.C., will teach a course in the spring semester on entertainment law disputes at Georgetown Law.
Tasos Katopodis
/
Getty Images
Doug Emhoff, here with his wife, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, last month at the Downtown Holiday Market in Washington, D.C., will teach a course in the spring semester on entertainment law disputes at Georgetown Law.

The incoming second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, will join the faculty of Georgetown Law, the largest law school in the United States.

"This role at Georgetown will be separate and apart from his official role as second gentleman," a transition spokesperson said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the representative was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Emhoff, who is severing ties with law firm DLA Piper, where he was a partner, will serve as a distinguished visitor from practice and teach a course in the spring semester on entertainment law disputes.

"Doug is one of the nation's leading intellectual property and business litigators, and he has a strong commitment to social justice," Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor said in a statement. "I know our students will greatly benefit from his experience and insight, and I am eagerly looking forward to his arrival."

According to the school, Emhoff will also serve as a distinguished fellow of Georgetown Law's Institute for Technology Law and Policy.

"I've long wanted to teach and serve the next generation of young lawyers," Emhoff said in the statement. "I couldn't be more excited to join the Georgetown community."

Emhoff, 56, is still working on his portfolio for the second gentleman role, the transition spokesperson said.

Emhoff told reporters in September that he'd like to focus on access to justice in his new role.

Along with his wife's groundbreaking election as vice president, Emhoff is making historical firsts of his own. Not only would he be the nation's first second gentleman, he will also be the first Jewish person married to a president or vice president.

Future first lady Jill Biden is also planning to continue teaching once she moves into the White House. She taught at Northern Virginia Community College while she was second lady from 2008 to 2016.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Barbara Sprunt is a producer on NPR's Washington desk, where she reports and produces breaking news and feature political content. She formerly produced the NPR Politics Podcast and got her start in radio at as an intern on NPR's Weekend All Things Considered and Tell Me More with Michel Martin. She is an alumnus of the Paul Miller Reporting Fellowship at the National Press Foundation. She is a graduate of American University in Washington, D.C., and a Pennsylvania native.