As our country enters a time of change between presidents and the political parties in control, two of UW’s law professors, Robert Anderson and Paul Steven Miller, are returning to politics.

Anderson and Miller have been selected to join the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team. Their membership was announced to the UW community last month via press release by the UW School of Law.

“Both men are definitely national leaders in both of their fields,” said Shari Ireton, public information and outreach officer for the law school.

Serving as current director of the UW School of Law Native American Law Center, Anderson will maintain his position at UW while serving as co-chair of the Department of Interior’s transition team. Miller will work with top advisors on labor and employment issues. Ireton said he too will split time between Washington, D.C. and the UW.

As co-chair for the Department of Interior’s transition team, Anderson will work with the issues of honoring the nation’s cultural heritage. Miller, a law professor, director of the UW Disability Studies Program and a nationally recognized expert in employment discrimination and disability law, will work with plans to aid wage earners in the U.S., develop better working conditions and help to create more profitable job openings, Ireton said.

Anderson and Miller were not able to comment regarding transition-related work.

The Obama administration emplaced the Obama-Biden Transition Team prior to the president-elect’s term to set out the agenda and priorities for the administration. According to the Office of the President-Elect, the team is made up of leaders from both the public and private sectors.

Kim Mechaelis, faculty assistant for Miller, said details pertaining to the specifics of what Anderson and Miller will be doing for the Presidential Transition Project have not yet been released.

It will be neither Anderson nor Miller’s first time in Washington, D.C., as both men have held governmental positions in their fields of specialty.

From 1995 to 2001, Anderson was an appointee of Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, who dealt with Native American law and issues of natural resources. He also served as a senior staff attorney for the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder, Colo. and Anchorage, Alaska.

Prior to his position at the UW, Miller served on the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as a commissioner and as a deputy director of the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs and was the White House liaison to the disability community. He dealt with employment discrimination laws during his service.

For more information regarding the transition program, visit change.gov.

Reach reporter Karleen Scharer at news@dailyuw.com.