Kris Kobach is a Professor of Law at the University of Missouri (Kansas City) School of Law, where he specializes in Constitutional Law, Immigration Law, and Legislation. Professor Kobach received his B.A. degree with highest distinction from Harvard University in 1988. He graduated at the top of his class in the Harvard Government Department. In 1988, the British government awarded him a Marshall Scholarship, which took him to England for post-graduate study. In 1992 he received his Doctorate in Political Science from Oxford University. In 1995 he received his J.D. from Yale Law School. Professor Kobach served as a law clerk to Judge Deanell Reece Tacha on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in 1995-1996. He joined the UMKC School of Law faculty in 1996.

Professor Kobach has authored two books: THE REFERENDUM: DIRECT DEMOCRACY IN SWITZERLAND (Dartmouth Publishing, 1993); and POLITICAL CAPITAL: THE MOTIVES, TACTICS, AND GOALS OF POLITICIZED BUSINESSES IN SOUTH AFRICA (University Press of America, 1990). He has also published numerous scholarly articles in constitutional law, immigration law, and legal history.

In 2001, Professor Kobach was awarded a White House Fellowship, which took him to Washington, DC, to work for the Bush Administration in the office of U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. After his fellowship year ended, President Bush appointed him Counsel to the U.S. Attorney General. In that capacity, Professor Kobach served as the Attorney General’s chief adviser on immigration law and border security.

After the 9/11 attacks, Kobach was put in charge of Department of Justice efforts to tighten border security and return the rule of law to immigration. He led the team that designed and implemented the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, which registers and fingerprints high-risk visitors to the United States. Within its first year of operation, the registration system resulted in the apprehension of numerous suspected terrorists. Professor Kobach also led Department of Justice reforms of the immigration court system, resulting in the reshaping of the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2002. He left the Justice Department and returned to teaching law in July 2003.

Since 2003, Professor Kobach has litigated a number of high-profile lawsuits in the field of immigration. He is lead attorney representing the cities of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, and Valley Park, Missouri, in their defense of ordinances that prohibits the employment of unauthorized aliens by businesses and prohibits the harboring of

illegal aliens by landlords. He is also representing the state of Arizona in its defense of its law requiring employers to participate in the E-Verify program. In addition, Professor Kobach represents U.S. citizen students challenging discriminatory state policies that grant resident tuition rates to illegal aliens in Kansas and California.

In January 2007, he was elected to the position of Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party.

Professor Kobach has testified before Congress on eight occasions. He is a regular guest on Lou Dobbs Tonight (CNN) and The O’Reilly Factor (FOX News Channel), most often discussing U.S. immigration policy. He is also a frequent columnist for the New York Post, the Washington Times, and Human Events. He and his wife, Heather, have two daughters, Lilly and Reagan.