Justine Tanya Bateman (born February 19, 1966) is an American writer, producer, and actress. She is best known for her regular role as Mallory Keaton on the sitcom Family Ties (1982–1989). Until recently, Bateman ran a production and consulting company, SECTION 5. In the fall of 2012, she started studying computer science at UCLA. She is currently a senior with the major "Digital Media Management and Computer Science".

Biography

Bateman married real estate developer Mark Fluent, and the couple have a son, Duke, and daughter, Gianetta. Bateman considers her vocational interests in equivalent terms to her family life, explaining in 2014:



There’s no way I’m not doing this [UCLA degree]. When you said, "Why do you have to work?" ... I have to because I have to. This is my life. There are things I want to do. I see this incredible opportunity for entertainment to be using technology. I just look at where technology’s going and what it’s doing, and to not want to be a part of that and get on that treadmill… Honestly, I would just want to die. I wouldn’t be who I am if I didn’t jump in that.
She served on the National Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild, until July 2009, when she resigned just prior to the end of her initial three-year term.

Bateman is an outspoken supporter of net neutrality. In 2008, Bateman testified before the United States Senate Commerce Committee in support of net neutrality.

Bateman is a licensed pilot of single-engine planes and a certified scuba diver.

On March 24, 2012, Bateman announced on her Twitter account that she had been accepted to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and will begin taking classes in the northern autumn of 2012. Shortly afterward, Bateman commenced an ongoing Tumblr page titled "College Life," in which she chronicles her study of a degree in digital management and computer science—Bateman is scheduled to graduate in 2016.