Susan Roosevelt Weld

Susan Roosevelt Weld is an American educator and legal scholar, with expertise in ancient Chinese civilization and law. She has held academic, governmental, and advisory roles and is connected to the Roosevelt family lineage.

Education and Academic Career

Weld graduated from Radcliffe College of Harvard University in 1970. She earned her Juris Doctor (JD) from Harvard Law School in 1974. Subsequently, she completed a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University in 1990. Her academic focus includes ancient Chinese civilization and legal history.

Professional Roles

Weld served as a professor at Harvard University, where she specialized in Chinese civilization and law. She has also held the position of General Counsel to the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. Currently, she is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law School and serves as the executive director of the Law Asia Leadership program. Additionally, she is a member of the Advisory Council of the US-China Education Trust.

Family and Ancestry

She is the daughter of Quentin Roosevelt II and Frances Blanche Webb. Her paternal lineage includes her grandfather, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., and her great-grandfather, Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States. Her familial relations encompass numerous prominent Roosevelt family members, including her grand-uncle Kermit Roosevelt, and other relatives such as Quentin Roosevelt, Archibald Roosevelt, Ethel Roosevelt Derby, and Alice Roosevelt Longworth.

Personal Life

Weld was married to Bill Weld, who served as the Governor of Massachusetts. Their marriage lasted from July 7, 1975, until their divorce in 2002. Together, they had five children: David Minot, Ethel Derby, Mary Blake, Quentin Roosevelt, and Frances Wylie. She is a second cousin of Mark Roosevelt, who was a political opponent of Bill Weld in the 1994 Massachusetts gubernatorial election. Mark Roosevelt is the grandson of Kermit Roosevelt, her grandfather's brother.

Selected Works

Weld completed her PhD dissertation titled "Covenant in Jin's Walled Cities: The Discoveries at Houma and Wenxian," in 1990, which is available via ProQuest.