Cass Sunstein Bio
Cass Robert Sunstein, born on September 21, 1954, is an American legal scholar widely recognized for his influential work in U.S. constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and behavioral economics. He is the Robert Walmsley University Professor at Harvard Law School and previously held a distinguished professorship at the University of Chicago Law School. Sunstein served as Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs from 2009 to 2012, working under President Barack Obama.
Sunstein is a New York Times bestselling author whose books include Nudge and The World According to Star Wars. He co-developed the theory of libertarian paternalism and the concept of nudging alongside economist Richard Thaler. Widely cited across legal academia, he received the Holberg Prize in 2018 for reshaping understanding of the modern regulatory state and constitutional law.
Early Life and Background
Cass Robert Sunstein was born in Salem, Massachusetts, to Marian (née Goodrich), a teacher, and Cass Richard Sunstein, a builder. Raised in a household where both parents were engaged in civic-minded work, he grew up with a strong sense of public responsibility. He has described a brief teenage fascination with the works of Ayn Rand before moving away from that worldview.
Sunstein graduated from Middlesex School in 1972. He then enrolled at Harvard University, where he joined the varsity squash team and served as an editor of the Harvard Lampoon. He graduated in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude. He continued at Harvard Law School, serving as an executive editor of the Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review and winning the Ames Moot Court Competition, earning his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, in 1978.
Path to US Politics
Following law school, Sunstein clerked for Justice Benjamin Kaplan of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1978 to 1979 and for Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1979 to 1980. He then spent a year as an attorney-advisor in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel, gaining firsthand experience with federal regulatory practice.
In 1981, Sunstein joined the University of Chicago Law School as an assistant professor. By 1985 he was a full professor of both political science and law, and in 1988 he was named the Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence. He was also a visiting professor at Columbia Law School in 1986 and at Harvard Law School during several later terms. These academic posts established his standing as a leading voice on constitutional and administrative law.
Cass Sunstein Career
Early Career (1978–1988)
Sunstein began his legal career with two prestigious clerkships, including a term with Justice Thurgood Marshall. After a year at the Office of Legal Counsel, he entered legal academia at the University of Chicago Law School in 1981. He was promoted to full professor by 1985 and was later named the Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence in 1988.
During this period, Sunstein published foundational works including After the Rights Revolution (1990), The Partial Constitution (1993), and Democracy and the Problem of Free Speech (1993). These books helped shape debates over constitutional interpretation and the role of the judiciary.
Breakthrough (1990–2008)
The 1990s and early 2000s marked a prolific period for Sunstein at the University of Chicago, where the university honored him in 1993 with its distinguished service accolade. He produced books on legal reasoning, social justice, and free markets, including Legal Reasoning and Political Conflict (1996), Free Markets and Social Justice (1997), and One Case at a Time (1999). He also argued for the revival of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights in his 2004 book The Second Bill of Rights.
His breakthrough into wider public recognition came with the 2008 publication of Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness, co-authored with Richard Thaler. The book introduced the concept of libertarian paternalism and proved popular with political figures such as President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron. Sunstein also explored the risks of online group isolation in Republic.com (2001) and the aggregation of information in Infotopia (2006).
Obama Era (2009–2012)
On September 10, 2009, the U.S. Senate confirmed Sunstein as Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs in a 57–40 vote, following a 63–35 cloture vote. His nomination drew controversy among progressive legal scholars and environmentalists, and was held up by Senator Saxby Chambliss over Sunstein’s animal rights work.
During his tenure, Sunstein oversaw regulatory review and contributed to White House policy debates on risk regulation and behavioral science. He later joined Harvard Law School in the fall of 2008 as director of its Program on Risk Regulation, and continues to hold the Robert Walmsley University Professor chair.
Notable Events and Milestones
In 2014, studies of legal publications found Sunstein to be the most frequently cited American legal scholar by a wide margin, underscoring his influence across the legal field. He was elected a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy in 2017 and received the Holberg Prize in 2018. In 2021, he joined the Department of Homeland Security as an advisor to the Biden administration on immigration policy and co-authored Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment with Daniel Kahneman and Olivier Sibony.
Cass Sunstein Career Wins
Sunstein’s career is marked by a series of major scholarly honors and institutional recognitions. He has been elected to leading academic societies and is widely regarded as one of the most cited legal scholars in the United States.
Honors and Awards Highlights
Sunstein was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992 and to the American Philosophical Society in 2010. He became a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy in 2017 and was awarded the Holberg Prize in 2018 for reshaping understanding of the modern regulatory state and constitutional law. He also received an Honorary Doctorate from Copenhagen Business School.
Other Wins & Achievements
Beyond his scholarly honors, Sunstein has served as a frequent witness before congressional committees and played an active role in opposing the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998. In 2017, he was ranked 449th in the world by the Professional Squash Association, reflecting his lifelong passion for the sport.
Cass Sunstein Family
Family Background and Personal Lineage
Sunstein is the son of Marian (née Goodrich), a teacher, and Cass Richard Sunstein, a builder. He has described a brief teenage infatuation with the philosophy of Ayn Rand before moving on to more communitarian views on law and society.
Personal Life
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Sunstein was married to Lisa Ruddick, an English scholar he met as an undergraduate at Harvard. Their daughter Ellyn is a journalist and photographer. Sunstein later dated philosopher Martha Nussbaum for almost a decade. On July 4, 2008, he married Samantha Power, a diplomat who later served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations. Sunstein and Power have two children, a son born in 2009 and a daughter born in 2012.