Professor Maryam Ahranjani teaches, writes, and speaks in the areas of constitutional rights, criminal law and procedure, and education law.

The author of numerous book chapters, law review articles, and other articles, Professor Ahranjani has earned wide recognition as a leader, teacher, and scholar. In 2023, she received the Deborah L. Rhode Award from the Association of American Law Schools for being a trailblazer in legal education. She was elected an American Bar Foundation Fellow and named an Albuquerque Woman of Influence in 2021. In 2020, the American Bar Association gave her the Raeder-Taslitz Award for excellence in teaching criminal law. For her “commitment to excellent teaching, community engagement and innovative pedagogy,” Professor Ahranjani earned UNM's campus-wide Early Career Teacher of the Year. In 2019, Professor Ahranjani received the Steven S. Goldberg Award for Distinguished Scholarship from the Education Law Association.

Professor Ahranjani thoroughly enjoys community leadership and professional service, including, for example, participating in amicus briefs, working with school districts on equity and inclusion, and speaking with the media about issues of public significance. In addition to chairing important internal committees, she serves as an active faculty advisor to several student groups and volunteers with several local and national non-profit boards and organizations. Professor Ahranjani has served as the Chair of three AALS sections and the Reporter of the ABA Women in Criminal Justice Task Force. She currently serves as the Co-Chair of the ABA Criminal Justice Section Women in Criminal Justice Committee and a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Silver Gavel Awards. She also dedicates significant time to the UNMSOL chapter of the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project, a pipeline program that trains and supervises law students teaching high school students about their constitutional rights and responsibilities. 

Fluent in Spanish and Persian, Professor Ahranjani has worked for a boutique education law firm in Washington, DC, the National Association of College and University Attorneys, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of State, U.S. Agency for International Development, and ABA Rule of Law Initiative. Immediately prior to joining the UNM faculty, she worked as an international legal consultant in Guatemala City, where she designed and conducted human rights trainings for Guatemalan government officials, served on an assessment team for youth migration intervention programs, and worked to create civic education programs. She has taught at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid), University of Nevada Boyd School of Law, Universidad del Istmo (Guatemala City), American University Washington College of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School, and Universidad de Chile.

Awards 

• 2023 AALS Deborah L. Rhode Award
• Affiliated Faculty, UNM Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program
• Ronald & Susan Friedman Faculty Excellence Award (2022-2025)
• Woody Award for "Most Supportive Faculty Member" from the UNMSOL Class of 2022
• 2021 Woman of Influence, Albuquerque Business First
• Rader-Taslitz Award, ABA Criminal Justice Section
• Don L. & Mabel F. Dickason Professorship for a three-year term (2019-2022).
• 2019-2020 UNM New Teacher of the Year Award
• 2019 Steven S. Goldberg Award for Distinguished Scholarship from the Education Law Association
• Lee & Leon Karelitz Professor of Evidence and Procedure, UNMSOL (2018-2019)