Eryn Reyes Leong is a Ph.D. student in Theological Ethics with a minor in Systematic Theology.  Born and raised in California, she is a first-generation Filipina American attorney whose academic and professional life in law and theology have been inspired by her Catholic faith and strong commitment to public service.

Her research interests include the relationship between law and theology, the relationship between justice and mercy, artificial intelligence, bioethics, and death. Due to her work as a former state prosecutor, she is particularly interested in Jesus’ reality as a prisoner and its theological-ethical implications for our world today.

At Santa Clara University, Eryn double majored in Political Science and Religious Studies and minored in Anthropology. While a student, she completed a study abroad program at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, a formative experience that introduced her to liberation theology in the Filipino context.

After her undergraduate studies, she completed a year of service in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, serving refugees in Arizona. She then obtained her J.D., with a Certificate in Environmental Law, from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. While practicing law, she obtained an M.A. in Theology from Loyola Marymount University. It was at Loyola Marymount where she discovered how her theological studies were bringing into fullness her legal studies by heightening the distinctive critical lens she had developed at the University of Hawaiʻi.

Prior to doctoral studies, Eryn was a military spouse, living across the United States with her spouse, Devin, and their two children, Adelyn and Colin. She served various communities, assisting military servicemembers in Ohio, domestic violence survivors in Alabama, students seeking Title IX protections in California, and tenants facing eviction in Maui. As mentioned above, she also served as a former state prosecutor in the County of Maui, prosecuting criminal cases such as OUIs, animal cruelty, harassment, and terroristic threatening. All these experiences and more have been formative to how she theologizes and practices law.

In her free time, Eryn enjoys cooking, baking, running, visiting museums, and spending time with family and friends. She has a terrible sweet tooth, which is only outmatched by her insatiable appetite for law and theology.