Natasha Robinson

About Me

Natasha L. Robinson, JD., is the Deputy Chief Diversity Officer & Title IX Coordinator in the Office of the President. Professor Robinson is also a member of the adjunct faculty of the College of Humanities, Education & Social Sciences. Professor Robinson joined Roosevelt in 2018 as an assistant teaching professor of criminal justice, where she is now an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Law, Society, & Sustainability (formerly the Government, Law and Justice department). In 2020, Professor Robinson founded Legaleaze Please! LLC and joined the adjunct faculty. Legaleaze Please! is an online platform that empowers the development of individual and collective comprehension of criminal law, cases, and policies through decoding, deconstructing and demystifying legal language. Legaleaze Please! provides relevant knowledge to legal information as well as equitable access for all users to understand and apply in their everyday lives.

In May 2022, Professor Robinson was awarded the Presidential Award in Social Justice by President Ali Malekzadeh for being a facilitator and one of the founding members of the Equity Teaching Academy. Natasha brings her passion for law and education to higher education, teaching students about criminal justice and creating professional connections for students who wish to pursue criminal justice in graduate courses or in careers. Natasha's aim is to educate students about the theory and everyday practice of criminal justice as well as to showcase "law in action", aligning coursework and service to the social justice mission of Roosevelt University. 

Prior to joining Roosevelt, Professor Robinson was a licensed defense attorney for 25 years. She served as an assistant public defender of Cook County for twelve and a half years, specializing in the representation of indigent clients charged with felony crimes. While an assistant public defender, Natasha noticed several trends that left a negative impact on her clients.  Her passion to provide information and education to others (young people in particular) about criminal justice and the legal system led her from the courtroom to the classroom.  Natasha went on to be the head of the Law and Public Safety Academy, a four-year pre-law honors program at Hirsch High School and Al Raby School for Community and Environment, both of which are Chicago Public High Schools.

Professor Robinson is a national speaker, lecturer, writer, scholar, activist and advocate. She is a regular guest legal analyst on CourtTV and WGN9 news. In August 2022, she was appointed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker to the Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission (TIRC) and served on the commission that gathers evidence about torture claims happening in Cook County.

Professor Robinson earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Iowa, Master of Arts in English from Chicago State University, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School.