Biography

Deeply devoted to the cause of children’s rights and welfare and a frequent expert advisor on youth and children’s legal issues nationwide, Michael Wald has had a distinguished career as an academic researcher and teacher. He is one of the leading national authorities on legal policy toward children, and he drafted the American Bar Association’s Standards Related to Child Abuse and Neglect, as well as major federal and state legislation regarding child welfare.

Professor Wald has served as deputy general counsel for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Clinton administration, executive director of the San Francisco Department of Human Services, and senior advisor to the president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. He is currently chair of the San Francisco Youth Council and the Faculty Scholars Program of the William T. Grant Foundation, and previously served as a Guggenheim Fellow. He has been a member of the Stanford Law School faculty since 1967.

Key Works

• Michael S. Wald, Same Sex Couple Marriage: A Family Policy Perspective, 9 Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law 291-344 (2001).
• Richard W. Barth and Michael S. Wald, Conditions of Children in California, Berkeley, CA: Policy Analysis for California Education, 1989. 379 pages.
• Michael S. Wald, J. Merrill Carlsmith and P. H. Leiderman, Protecting Abused and Neglected Children, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988. 249 pages.
• Michael S. Wald, State Intervention on Behalf of Endangered Children: A Proposed Legal Response, 6 International Journal of Child Abuse and Neglect 3-45 (1982).

Publications & Cases

Recent Publications View All

• Michael S. Wald, Disconnected Youth in San Francisco, The Mayor's Task Force on Transitional Youth, August 2007.
• Michael S. Wald, Adults' Sexual Orientation and State Determinations Regarding Placement of Children, 40 Family Law Quarterly 385 (2006).
• Michael S. Wald, Adult's Sexual Orientation and State Determinations Regarding Placement of Children, Stanford Public Law Working Paper No. 920670 (2006).
• Michael S. Wald. Forward In On Your Own Without A Net: The Transition To Adulthood For Vulnerable Populations, D. Wayne Osgood, E. Michael Foster, Constance Flanagan and Gretchen R. Ruth, eds., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.
• Michael S. Wald, Children, Rights of: Cultural Concerns, in, 3 International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Neil J. Smelser and Paul B. Baltes, editors. 2001. p. 1720-1725.
• Michael S. Wald, Same Sex Couple Marriage: A Family Policy Perspective, 9 Virginia Journal of Social Policy and the Law 291-344 (2001).
• Michael S. Wald, Comment: Moving Forward, Some Thoughts on Strategies, 21 Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law 472-475 (2000).
• Michael S. Wald, Same-Sex Couples: Marriage, Families and Children, Stanford Law School, Public Law and Legal Theory Working Paper No. 6 (1999). 39 pages.
• Michael S. Wald, Same-Sex Couples: Marriage, Families, and Children: An Analysis of Proposition 22, The Knight Initiative, Stanford: The Stanford Institute for Research on Women and Gender and The Stanford Center on Adolescence, 1999. 28 pages.
• Michael S. Wald, Symposium Introduction: Welfare Reform: Economic Security for the Next Century, 9 Stanford Law and Policy Review 4 (1998).

Affiliations & Honors

Professional Affiliations

• Board Member, Chapin Hall, Children's Center, University of Chicago
• Board Member, Legal Services for Children, San Francisco, CA

Honors and Awards

• Recipient, Miram Aaron Roland Volunteer Service Prize, 2006
• Guggenheim Fellow, 1982-83