Sherry F. Colb

Sherry F. Colb (3 May 1966 – 25 August 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. 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. Colb co-authored Beating Hearts: Abortion and Animal Rights with Michael C. Dorf in 2016. Colb advocated for ethical veganism, commenting that there are no good reasons to kill animals for food as people can easily meet all of their nutritional needs on a plant-based diet. Colb argued that sentient fetuses have the right not the be harmed or killed but there is no moral concern to abort pre-sentient fetuses.

Personal life and death

Colb became a vegan in 2006. 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.