Faculty Spotlight: Professor Nikolas Bowie

Getting to Know Black Faculty at HLS

Fall 2018 | Andrew Gonzales

Professor Nikolas Bowie (JD ’14) is an assistant professor of law at Harvard Law School. This fall, Professor Bowie is teaching a course on Local Government Law. In the spring, he will teach courses on Federal Constitutional Law and State law.

His current scholarship examines the origins of federal and state constitutions in order to protect cities from being subordinated by larger governments. He also engages in scholarship considering why the federal and state constitutions were written down in the first place.

In addition to his research, Bowie remains involved with Lawyers for Civil Rights, which advocates for local voting rights and voter protection.

For Professor Bowie, Harvard is more than just an institution — it is a strong community. He grew up here, received his PhD and JD from Harvard, stays close to family who lives here, and considers this his home. His strong sense of community and his new position on the faculty makes him think a lot about his responsibilities as a Harvard Law Professor. “When I speak out, I now feel I speak as a law professor at Harvard Law School. When I don’t speak out, I don’t speak out as myself and a professor at Harvard Law School.”

Professor Bowie received a BA in history from Yale and a JD and PhD in history from Harvard. He wrote his dissertation on the history of American corporations since 1629, emphasizing how people have thought of corporations as forms of government that require the same checks and balances as states. Between law school and graduate school, Professor Bowie clerked for Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the US Supreme Court.

Professor Bowie has brought both vibrancy and breadth to HLS and we are beyond thankful for his involvement and investment into the BLSA community.

Read Bowie’s faculty profile here.