Sherry Colb

Sherry F. Colb (May 3, 1966 – August 25, 2022) was an American legal scholar who served as the inaugural C.S. Wong Professor of Law at Cornell Law School from 2019 until her death in 2022. She was best known for her scholarship on gender equality and animal rights.

Early life and education

Colb was born on May 3, 1966, in New York City, New York. Her parents, Clara and Ben-Zion Colb, were both Holocaust survivors. After graduating from Ramaz High School, she received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Columbia University; she was valedictorian of the graduating class at both institutions. She then enrolled at Harvard Law School, where she graduated magna cum laude. While studying for her law degree, she also attended the University of Southern California because her husband, Michael C. Dorf, was working in Los Angeles, California at the time.

Career

After graduating from law school, Colb worked as a law clerk, first for Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and later for Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun. In 1993, she joined the faculty of Rutgers Law School, initially as an assistant professor; she later gained tenure and became the Judge Frederick Lacey Scholar there. In 2008, she left Rutgers to join the faculty of Cornell, where she served as the Charles Evans Hughes Scholar before being named the inaugural C.S. Wong Professor of Law in 2019.

Personal life and death

On August 25, 2022, Colb died at her home in Ithaca, New York, at the age of 56. She was survived by her husband, Michael C. Dorf, as well as by their two daughters, Meena Colbdorf and Amelia Colbdorf.