Professor Dworkin received an A.B. from Princeton in 1963 (history) and a J.D. from Stanford in 1966. After a short period of law practice, he joined the I.U. faculty in 1968. He became the Robert H. McKinney Professor in 1996 and in 1999 was named the first Robert A. Lucas Chair of Law. Previously, Dworkin has been honored as the John S. Hastings Faculty Fellow and the Harry T. Ice Faculty Fellow in the Maurer School of Law. Since 1991, Professor Dworkin has also served as Nelson Poynter Senior Scholar and Director of Medical Studies at the University's Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics and American Institutions. He was Acting Director of the Center during 1995. Dworkin has also taught at the University of Virginia School of Law and has been Professor of Biomedical History at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Professor Dworkin's research explores the relationship between law and the biomedical sciences. He is the author of Limits: the Role of the Law in Bioethical Decision Making (1996), which won a CHOICE Outstanding Book Award, the co-author of Early Warning: Cases and Ethical Guidance for Presymtomatic Testing in Genetic Diseases(1998), the coauthor of a leading casebook in law and medicine, and the author of numerous articles.
A dedicated teacher, Professor Dworkin teaches Torts, Advanced Torts, Law and Biomedical Advance, Law and Medicine, and Public Understanding of Law. He is a recipient of the law school's Leon Wallace Teaching Award and a Lifetime Award for Excellence in Teaching.
In 2020, Roger Dworkin was presented the Bicentennial Medal for his distinguished service to Indiana University.
