University of Arkansas School of Law Building Dedication
October 3, 2008
The Honorable Sandra Day O’Connor
Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (Retired)
The first woman to serve on the United States Supreme Court, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor was born in El Paso, Texas, on March 26, 1930. She earned a B. A. in economics (magna cum laude) from Stanford University, and went on to receive an LL. B. from Stanford Law School, where she graduated third in her class. Her classmate, the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, graduated first in the class.
Justice O’Connor served as Deputy County Attorney of San Mateo County, California, from 1952 to 1953, and as a civilian attorney for the Quartermaster Market Center, Frankfurt, Germany, from 1954 to 1957. From 1958 to 1960, she practiced law in Maryvale, Arizona. She served as Assistant Attorney General of Arizona from 1965 to 1969. She was appointed to the Arizona State Senate in 1969, and was subsequently reelected to two two-year terms.
In 1975, she was elected Judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court and served until 1979, when she was appointed to the Arizona Court of Appeals.
President Ronald Reagan nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and she took her seat September 25, 1981. She currently serves as the Chancellor of the College of William and Mary. Her appointment became effective at her April 2006 investiture; she succeeded Dr. Henry A. Kissinger, former United States Secretary of State, who was appointed in 2000.
Justice O’Connor is married to John Jay O’Connor III, and the couple has three sons: Scott, Brian and Jay.
Order of Events
Call to Order
Presentation of Colors and National Anthem
Welcome
Cynthia Nance,
Dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law
Remarks
Dustin McDaniel,
Attorney General of the State of Arkansas
Remarks
G. David Gearhart,
Chancellor of the University of Arkansas
Introduction of Justice O'Connor
Dean Cynthia Nance
Keynote Address
The Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor,
Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (Retired)
Proclamation of the Dedication of Leflar Law Center
Jim Lindsey,
Chair of the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees
Closing
Dean Cynthia Nance
Ribbon Cutting
G. David Gearhart
Chancellor of the University of Arkansas
Dr. G. David Gearhart became the fifth chancellor of the University of Arkansas on July 1, 2008, following 10 years of service to the university as vice chancellor for university advancement. During the decade leading up to his appointment as the chancellor, he was the architect of the Campaign for the Twenty-First Century - the largest, most successful capital campaign in Arkansas history, which raised more than $1 billion for academic programs and increased the endowment from $119 million to almost $900 million. The Campaign made the University of Arkansas one of only 13 public universities at that time to have exceeded a billion dollars raised.
A native of Fayetteville, Arkansas, Chancellor Gearhart was born and raised in the shadow of Old Main. He is an alumnus of the university, and his name is twice inscribed on Senior Walk for the law degree (J.D.) and doctor of education degree (Ed.D.) he earned.
Cynthia Nance
Dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law
Dean Cynthia Nance became the dean of the University of Arkansas School of Law in 2006. She has focused her teaching and research on labor and employment law, poverty law, and torts. She earned her J.D. with distinction and M.A. in finance from the University of Iowa.
Dean Nance has worked as a labor educator at the University of Iowa Labor Center and was a faculty fellow in the law school. She was a recipient of a 2007 American Association for Affirmative Action Arthur A. Fletcher Award and the 2006 NIA Professional Achievement Award. She was also honored as the 2005 Arkansas Bar Association Outstanding Lawyer-Citizen. In 2004, she received the University of Arkansas Alumni Association’s Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award for Public Service and was recognized in 2003 as a Northwest Arkansas Woman of Distinction and a Northwest Arkansas Martin Luther King Individual Achievement Award recipient. She is past chair of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Employment Discrimination and Labor & Employment Law Sections.
The School of Law community is very grateful to the lead donors to the law school building project:
Ben J. Altheimer Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Bassett Law Firm
Norma Lea Beasley
Jim and Nancy Blair
George Chase
Family and Friends of Robert C. Compton
William H. Enfield
Friday, Eldredge, & Clark
Friends of Robert F. Fussell
Jim Lindsey
Bobby McDaniel
Nicholas H. Patton
Tab Turner
Friends of Al Witte
Contractors:
Nabholz Construction Corporation
Architects:
Cromwell Architects Engineers, Inc.
This historic dedication of the law school building has been made possible by the incomparable friends of the University of Arkansas School of Law. Each and every gift, no matter the size, contributed to our beautiful new facility. The School of Law building is a testament to your generosity and vision.
On behalf of the School of Law community, I thank you, Justice O’Connor, and our many other distinguished guests for being a part of this banner day.
Sincerely,
Cynthia Nance
Dean of the School of Law
