Paula Lustbader, J.D.
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Paula Lustbader, J.D.
President, The Civility Fund
Executive Director, Civility Center for Law at Seattle University
Executive Director, Alfie Scholars at Seattle University
Professor Emerita, Seattle University School of Law
Known for her energy and passion for promoting diversity and civility, Professor Paula Lustbader is an internationally recognized leader, scholar, and speaker on undergraduate and law school teaching and learning theory, academic support programs, diversity, and civility.
As a law professor, she co-founded and directed the Academic Resource Center and its Access Admissions program at Seattle University School of Law. For 28 years, she provided instruction, support, and mentorship to law students from under-represented groups. In that process, she was and continues to be instrumental in increasing the diversity of the legal profession. She touched the lives of more than 1,000 law students who, on graduation, have gone on to impact the lives of literally thousands of clients and fellow citizens in Washington and across the country.
In addition to providing countless faculty development trainings, Professor Lustbader helped found the Association of American Law Schools Section on Law School Academic Support, the Law School Admission Council Academic Support Institute, and the Center for Teaching and Learning at Seattle University. She retired from Seattle University School of Law in 2015. Her contribution to the academy nationally was acknowledged in 2015, when she was given the Association of American Law Schools Section on Academic Support Award for Excellence in Legal Education. The Washington State Bar Association recognized Professor Lustbader’s outstanding contributions by naming her co-recipient of the organization’s Award for Excellence in Diversity (2006). In 2010, the Loren Miller Bar Association, the Washington affiliate of National Bar Association, the largest organization of African-American attorneys in the U.S., gave her its President’s Award for her role in increasing diversity in the legal profession.
Between 2010 and 2015, Professor Lustbader, while in phased retirement from the Law School, founded Robert’s Fund, dedicated to fostering civility in the legal profession, now known as the Civility Center for Law at Seattle University School of Law. www.civilitycenterforlaw.com. As the Executive Director of the Center, Professor Lustbader and her team created CLE programs, including an 8-day seminar in Italy, to promote civility and teach fundamental skills that further civility. In 2015, combining her passion for diversity and civility, Professor Lustbader founded the Alfie Scholars Program at Seattle University, dedicated to cultivating civility leaders. This program provides scholarships, academic enhancement, and civility leadership training to diverse transfer students who are committed to fostering civility on campus and in their professions. Professor Lustbader designed the program, leads a team of faculty and staff, and teaches in the Alfie Scholars signature programing for each cohort.