Teaching & Academia

Thought Leadership in Polarities

Image of Professor Betsy A. Miller teaching her polarities class at Harvard Law School

As a thought leader bringing Both/And to the classroom, Betsy is the creator and instructor of Harvard Law School's first-ever course on polarities and leadership. Her class, "Polarities: Harnessing the Power of Opposites to Lead and Negotiate in a Complex World," teaches graduate students the importance of a Both/And Mindset when faced with interdependent opposites. In 2027, Betsy will join the adjunct faculty at the renowned Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine.

At the SMU Cox School of Business, Betsy teaches polarities, communication strategies, and change management to leaders in the executive education program.

Betsy taught negotiation strategy and mediation advocacy at Georgetown Law School for 15 years.

Teaching Experience

Image of Harvard Law School's logo, where Betsy A. Miller teaches polarities, leadership and negotiations

Harvard Law School

Lecturer on Law

Image of Pepperdine's world famous Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution, where Betsy A. Miller teaches a course on polarities

Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution

Adjunct Professor

Image of SMU Cox School of Business's logo, where Betsy A. Miller teaches polarities in the Advanced Physicians Leadership Program

SMU Cox School of Business

Executive Education Faculty

Image of Georgetown Law School's logo, where Betsy A. Miller taught negotiations for 15 years.

Georgetown Law School

Adjunct Professor

Image of Betsy A. MIller's Both And Mindset logo and polarity map

Betsy's scholarship on polarities, leadership, and facing change has been published in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, the Leadership Edition of ABA's Law Practice Magazine, The American Lawyer, National Law Journal, Law360, and Law.com. She is a frequent guest on podcasts discussing polarities and the Both/And Mindset, succession planning, and generational dynamics in ultra-high net worth family offices and enterprises.

Featured Articles

BOTH: The Legal Profession's Struggle to Leverage Stability and Change

Image of the Harvard Negotiation Law Review's logo, where Betsy A. Miller's article was published

Harvard Negotiation Law Review, Vol. 28:65

The legal profession is not facing a series of problems to solve — it is navigating a set of polarities it hasn’t learned to see. Published in the Harvard Negotiation Law Review, this article introduces Polarity Thinking as a framework for understanding why the profession’s overattachment to Stability — at the expense of Change — is driving the generational divide, accelerating burnout, and perpetuating the diversity deficit. The antidote isn’t choosing one over the other. It’s learning to leverage both.

Image of The Harvard Gazette's logo, which featured an article about Betsy A. Miller's work on polarities as a highlight of the Presidential Bridges Program

Opposites Attract!

Harvard Gazette

Harvard Law Today

Learn about Betsy's first-of-its-kind Polarities course at Harvard Law School, how it teaches students to navigate complexity through Both/And thinking, and the transformative impact of the course.

What Students Say about Betsy:

  • "Betsy is a powerhouse. She's an incredible teacher and thinker, and a generous human who really brought the material to life."

  • "This has been my favorite seminar at Harvard. It's an incredibly transferable and interactive course focused as much on professional development and leadership as personal self-awareness and growth."

  • "One of the best professors at Harvard. She is one of the few professors who encourage competing viewpoints and perspectives."

  • "Professor Miller cares so much about each student and actively wants to mentor students and help propel you forward in your career which is so special!"

  • Betsy is one of our "most thought-provoking and caring professors."

  • "Betsy is a teaching dynamo."

Contact Betsy

We don’t rise to the level of our potential; We fall to the level of our training.

— Archilocus