Sandra Day O’Connor to Thunderbird!

You are cordially invited to join Interim President Barbara Barrett and Retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (Bio included below) for an exciting symposium here on campus. The event will be held on Friday, Sept 28th 2012 from 11am – 12pm. There is limited availability for this event and thus please RSVP to Communications@thunderbird.edu by Friday, Sept 21st if you would like to attend. The first 50 students will be selected and additional details will be provided. Please contact Gbemi.disu@thunderbird.edu if you have any questions.

“The 102nd Supreme Court Justice and First Female Member”

Sandra Day O’Connor was born on March 26, 1930 in El Paso, Texas. She grew up on her family’s 198,000 acre cattle ranch. In 1952, she graduated from Stanford Law School and married fellow law student John O’Connor. The O’Connors settled in Phoenix, Arizona.

O’Connor served as an Arizona assistant attorney general from 1965 to 1969, when she was appointed to a vacancy in the Arizona Senate. In 1974, she ran successfully for trial judge, a position she held until she was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals in 1979. Eighteen months later, on July 7, 1981 President Ronald Reagan nominated her to the Supreme Court. In September 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor became the Court’s 102nd justice and its first female member.

Her votes are generally conservative, but she frequently surprises observers with her political independence. A quietly determined woman who has blazed new trails for her sex, Sandra Day O’Connor has become a role model for Americans of both sexes and all ages.

Education
Stanford University, B.A., 1950, magna cum laude; LL.B., 1952, Order of the Coif, Board of Editors, Stanford Law Review.

Memberships in Professional Organizations
American Bar Association, State Bar of Arizona, State Bar of California, Maricopa County Bar Association, Arizona Judges’ Association, National Association of Women Judges, Arizona Women Lawyers’ Association.

Civic and Other Activities
Member, National Board of the Smithsonian Associates, 1981 to present; President, member, Board of Trustees, The Heard Museum, 1968 to 1974, 1976 to 1981; member, Salvation Army Advisory Board, 1975 to 1981; member, Vice President, Soroptimist Club of Phoenix, 1978 to 1981; member, Board of Visitors, Arizona State University Law School, 1981; member, Liaison Committee on Medical Education, 1981; member, Advisory Board, and Vice President, National Conference of Christians and Jews, Maricopa County, 1977 to 1981; member, Board of Trustees, Stanford University, 1976 to 1981; member, Board of Directors, and Secretary, Arizona Academy, 1969 to 1975; member, Board of Junior Achievement, Arizona, 1975 to 1979; member, Board of Directors, Phoenix Historical Society, 1974 to 1978.

Member, Anglo-American Exchange, 1980; Chairman, Arizona Supreme Court Committee to Reorganize Lower Courts, 1974-75; Chairman, Maricopa County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service, 1960-62; former member, State Bar of Arizona Committees on Legal Aid, Public Relations, Lower Court Reorganization, Continuing Legal Education; Chairman, Maricopa County Juvenile Detention Home Visiting Board, 1963-64; Chairman, Maricopa County Superior Court Judges’ Training and Education Committee, 1977-79; member, National Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, 1974-76; member, Arizona State Personnel Commission, 1968-69; Vice Chairman, Arizona Select Law Enforcement Review Commission, 1979-80; member, Maricopa County Board of Adjustments and Appeals, 1963