Great universities bring the country's top thinkers, influencers and leaders to campus to share their perspectives on the world and our future. This was my goal when I envisioned creating a Presidential Speaker Series. I wanted to invite inspirational leaders of our time to share their knowledge and life experiences with our community. When considering who the inaugural speaker should be, I immediately contacted a former law school classmate who has reached the pinnacle of the legal profession. As a result of that call, I am pleased to announce Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the Supreme Court of the United States as the inaugural Tulane Presidential Speaker.
I will conduct a Q and A with Justice Sotomayor at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 25 in McAlister Auditorium. Because of the intense interest we are anticipating for this event, we are limiting attendance to the Tulane community. To secure your seat, visit tulanetickets.com.
Justice Sotomayor was born in Bronx, New York, on June 25, 1954. She earned a B.A. in 1976 from Princeton University, graduating summa cum laude and receiving the university's highest academic honor. In 1979, she earned a J.D. from Yale Law School, where she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal. She thereafter served as Assistant District Attorney in the New York County District Attorney's Office from 1979–1984. She then litigated international commercial matters in New York City at Pavia & Harcourt, where she was an associate and then partner from 1984–1992. In 1991, President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, and she served in that role from 1992–1998. She then served as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit from 1998–2009. President Barack Obama nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court on May 26, 2009, and she assumed this role on August 8, 2009.
I know Justice Sotomayor's vast knowledge and experience at the highest levels of government, her long list of accomplishments, her brilliant legal mind, her commitment to justice and her genuine warmth and authenticity will resonate with the Tulane community and hold lessons for us all.
