Interview of Ruth Colker by Olivia Wikle

Interview conducted at The Ohio State University Archives, Columbus, Ohio.Ruth Colker was recruited to Ohio State to become the Heck Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law at Moritz College of Law in 1997. After teaching for more than a decade, Colker also had the honor of becoming a Distinguished University Professor. Interested in civil rights activism from a young age, Colker attended Harvard Law School and, following her passion for teaching and writing, decided to become a law professor. She teaches classes in Constitutional Law, Disability Law, and LGBT rights. She was active in helping Congress pass the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, and amending the same Act in 2008. Colker describes gender discrimination and sexual orientation discrimination that she has experienced throughout her life, and her participation in gay rights activism throughout her career. Her work to make the University more accessible to people with disabilities led to her winning the University's Distinguished Diversity Enhancement Award in 2002. She also talks about her own experience with work-life balance in the academic world