University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law professors Danielle Citron, JD, and Sherrilyn Ifill, JD, are among the 50 distinguished professionals chosen as Influential Marylanders by The Daily Record, a newspaper covering the state's business and legal communities. The annual award honors leaders in the state who have made significant contributions to their fields.

Citron is an internationally recognized expert on cyber civil rights and the author of Hate Crimes in Cyberspace (Harvard University Press, 2014). She is an affiliate fellow at the Yale Information Society Project, an affiliate scholar at the Stanford Center on Internet and Society, and an advisor to the American Law Institute’s project on information privacy. She is a regular contributor to Forbes.com and Concurring Opinions. She has published articles in The New York Times, CNN, the Guardian, and Slate. The BBC recognized revenge porn — the focus of her recent work — as one of the most important ideas of 2014.

Ifill is currently on leave to serve as president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc., where she also worked early in her career, winning a landmark voting rights case before the Supreme Court.  She has gone on to win international recognition as an advocate for civil rights, voting rights, judicial diversity, and judicial decision-making. Her book, On the Courthouse Lawn: Confronting the Legacy of Lynching in the 21st Century (Beacon Books, 2007) reflects her lifelong engagement with the issues of race and American public life. She appears frequently on national media. While at Maryland Carey Law, Professor Ifill launched new legal clinics on environmental justice and removing legal barriers facing the formerly incarcerated.

Citron, Ifill, and the other honorees will be feted during a March 26 awards ceremony in Cockeysville, Md.