Pen Name:
None
Genres:
Articles, Humor, Inspirational, Memoir, Other Nonfiction: History, Law, Business
Websites:
SherriBurr.com
Amazon Author Store
RMKpublications.com/Dr-Sherri-Burr
Social Media:
Bio
Sherri L. Burr is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, and the Yale Law School. At the University of New Mexico, she became the Dickason Chair and Regents Professor of Law Emerita in 2017 following her retirement from an approximately 30-year career as a full-time law professor.
Burr is the prolific author or co-author of over 30 law, business, and history books. Her Complicated Lives: Free Blacks in Virginia, 1619-1865 (Carolina Academic Press, 2019) was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in History. Her first memoir, Living with Nephew: How I Got Voted the Meanest Parent in the World, was published by RMK Publications in 2026.
Burr has won numerous awards as an author, lecturer, and television producer. In 2025, she received the Parris Award from SouthWest Writers, the organization’s highest honor for a published writer who has contributed substantially to the organization and to advance other writers. In 2024, she was selected as the inaugural Black Women United for Action Fellow at the George Washington Presidential Library to work on her next history book.
Burr’s philanthropy includes establishing and growing the Ola Mae Burr Peete Scholarship for a Single-Parent Nursing student, the Elizabeth Agbi Warrior for Justice Scholarship, and the Sherri Burr Family Law Scholarship. The first two were set up at the University of New Mexico and the third one at Yale Law School. She serves as a Vice-President of the Aaron Burr Association and member of both the Authors Guild Foundation and Albuquerque Museum Boards of Trustees.
Her hobbies include golfing and cooking tossed in with occasional doses of horseback riding and kayaking.
Books
Title: Living with Nephew
Published: RMK Publications, 2026
Genre: Memoir
Sherri Burr’s California nephew, Terrance, moved in with her when he was 12 years old, entering puberty, and quickly becoming popular with girls. In Living with Nephew, Sherri humorously attempts to keep him focused on schoolwork—and away from romance—by drafting contracts to manage his behavior. She also weaves in stories about her own seventh-grade year when tragedy struck and forever altered her family.
Read David Steinberg’s review of Living With Nephew published February 1, 2026 in the Albuquerque Journal.
Available for Sale
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Bookworks
Collected Works
Title: Entertainment Law in a Nutshell (Nutshells)
Published: West Academic Publishing, 2024
Genre: History
This compact reference gives a big picture overview of the intellectual property, contract, publicity, estate planning, and First Amendment issues that contribute to the field of entertainment law. Professor Burr also addresses specific legal issues that arise in the film, music, television, and videogame industries, including the potential impact of AI: Artificial Intelligence on creative output. This Nutshell is ideal as a secondary text to accompany any entertainment law casebook, as the primary text for a seminar, or as background information for someone requiring an overview.
Available for Sale
Title: A Short & Happy Guide to Financial Well-Being (Short & Happy Guides)
Published: West Academic Publishing, 2021
Genre: History
This book has been updated to take into account the current economic situation the United States and the world finds itself in because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The book uses colorful characters like Lively Law Student, Learned Lawyer, Published Poet, Reliable Realtor, Scattered Secretary and Seattle Businessman to explain money management in a simplified, yet humorous manner. The tips provided can also generate discussion for classes, civic groups, and the dinner table.
Available for Sale
Title: Complicated Lives
Published: Carolina Academic Press, 2019
Genre: History
Complicated Lives upends the pervasive belief that all Africans landing on the shores of Virginia, beginning in late August 1619, became slaves. In reality, many of these kidnap victims received the status of indentured servants. Indeed, hundreds of thousands of free African Americans in the South and North owned property, created businesses, and engaged in public service. Complicated Lives further explores the lives of Free Blacks through the lens of the author’s ancestors and other Free Blacks who lived this history, including those who served in the integrated troops commanded by George Washington during the Revolutionary War.
Available for Sale
Amazon
Carolina Academic Press
Articles/Essays
“Aaron Burr’s 1772 Legacy as a Banker Lives On” ♦ Princeton Alumni Weekly, September 2024
“The Writing Life: Inspired” ♦ SouthWest Writers Blog Post, August 2, 2024
“The Writing Life: Friendship Love” ♦ SouthWest Sage, February 2024, p. 4
“The Writing Life: Avoiding Regrets” ♦ SouthWest Sage, January 2024, p. 7
“The Writing Life: Shifting Priorities” ♦ SouthWest Sage, November 2023, p. 9
“The Writing Life: Diana Galbadon” ♦ SouthWest Sage, July 2023, p. 8
“The Writing Life: Grace” ♦ SouthWest Sage, May 2023, p. 4-5
“The Writing Life: The Yellowstone Universe” ♦ SouthWest Sage, February 2023, p. 6-7