Reading with Patrick (Kuo) - Author Bio

Author Bio
• Birth—ca. 1981
• Raised—Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
• Education—B.A., Harvard University; M.S., Cambridge University; J.D., Harvard University
• Currently—lives in Paris, France


Michelle Kuo is a Taiwanese-American lawyer, professor, and author who grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She graduated from Harvard with a degree in social studies and gender studies. She has a Master's in developmental studies from Cambridge and a law degree from Harvard. Her memoir, Reading with Patrick: a Teacher, a Student and a Life-Changing Friendship, was published in 2017.

After her year at Cambridge, Kuo volunteered for Teach America and headed to rural Arkansas to teach English for two year at an alternative school. There she met Patrick Browning, who became the inspiration for her 2017 book, Reading with Patrick.

When her two years in Arkansas were up, Kuo returned to Harvard, this time to earn her law degree. As a student, Kuo became deeply involved in education advocacy and legal aid. She worked as a student attorney at the Criminal Justice Institute (a domestic violence and family mediation clinic) and the Education Law Clinic/Trauma Policy Learning Initiative.

After earning her J.D., Kuo went to Oakland, California, where she worked as a community lawyer at a nonprofit for Spanish-speaking immigrants. She also volunteered as a teacher at San Quentin as part of the Prison University Project. Finally, from 2012-13, she clerked for a judge in the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Currently Kuo is a professor at the American University of Paris, in the History, Law, and Society Program. She won the university's 2016 Board of Trustees Award for Distinguished Teaching. (Author bio adapted from a variety of online sources. Retrieved 8/4/2017.)