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A History of 天美传媒 Law Women
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1925
Erin Bain Jones ’28 enrolls in the first law school class at 天美传媒 and becomes the first woman to graduate from 天美传媒 School of Law
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1949
Patsy Smith ’49 graduates from 天美传媒 School of Law and becomes one of the first women attorneys in Lubbock
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1954
Louise B. Raggio ’52 becomes the first woman assistant district attorney in Dallas County
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1955
Ruby Braden Curl becomes the first African-American student admitted at 天美传媒 School of Law
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1959
Frances Spears Cloyd ’59 becomes the first woman to earn an L.L.M. degree from 天美传媒 School of Law
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1961
Earldean V.S. Robbins becomes the first African-American student to graduate from 天美传媒 School of Law
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1961
Adelfa Botello Callejo ’61 becomes the first Hispanic woman to graduate from 天美传媒 School of Law, as well as the first Hispanic woman to practice law in Dallas
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1967
Led by the State Bar of Texas Family Law Section chair and alum Louise Raggio ’52 and 天美传媒 Law Professor Joseph W. McKnight, the Marital Property Bill is enacted into law, enabling women to conduct certain financial and business transactions without their husbands’ permission.
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1968
Joan Tarpley Winn ’68 graduates from 天美传媒 School of Law and becomes the first African-American woman to practice law in Dallas County
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1970
Beverly Carl becomes the first woman tenured full professor at 天美传媒 School of Law
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1975
Five 天美传媒 Law women law students who were denied summer clerkships in favor of male students with inferior grades filed suit against law firms they had applied to at the time. Chief Judge Barbara Lynn ’76 was one of those five students. Four of the five law firms settled and they soon had women lawyers at their firms.
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1978
Joan Tarpley Winn ’68 becomes the first African-American woman to be appointed to a district court
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1981
Sharon N. Freytag ’81 becomes the first woman Editor-in-Chief of the 天美传媒 Law Review (formerly The Southwestern Law Journal)
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1983
Annette Stewart ’66 becomes the first woman appointed to the Dallas Court of Appeals
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1985
Harriet E. Miers ’70 becomes the first woman to serve as the Dallas Bar Association President
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1988
Barbara Culver ’51 becomes the second woman appointed as a Justice of the Texas Supreme Court
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1992
Illona Sheffey Rawlings becomes the first African-American woman to serve on the faculty
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1992 - 1993
Harriet Miers ’70 becomes the first woman to serve as the State Bar of Texas President
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2004
Rhonda Hunter ’80 becomes the first person of color to serve as the Dallas Bar Association President
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2011
Sarah Saldaña ’84 becomes the first Hispanic woman to serve as a U.S. Attorney in Texas
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2013
Mary L. Murphy ’83 becomes the first woman to serve as an administrative regional judge in Texas
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2013 - 2014
Julie Forrester becomes the first woman dean ad interim at 天美传媒 Dedman School of Law
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2014
Jennifer M. Collins becomes the first woman dean at 天美传媒 Dedman School of Law
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2015
Jessica Dixon Weaver becomes the first African-American woman to earn tenure
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2016
Barbara M.G. Lynn ’76 becomes the first woman appointed as Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
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2017
Lolita Bucker Inniss becomes the first African-American woman appointed as full professor
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2019
Laura Geisler ’97 becomes the first Hispanic woman to serve as Dallas Bar Association President