Raggio Lecture Series

The Louise B. Raggio Endowed Lecture Series brings role models of vision and achievement to SMU to speak on gender and women's issues. It expands students' opportunities to hear and interact with nationally renowned speakers in the area of women's studies as well as strengthens intellectual ties between the University and the greater community. The series continues to benefit future generations of individuals interested in critical social issues.

About Louise Ballerstedt Raggio

If you are a woman living and working in Texas today, you owe Louise Ballerstedt Raggio a debt of gratitude. A woman's legal right to own property, secure a bank loan, or start a business without the consent of her husband is a direct result of Raggio's efforts in drafting the Texas Marital Property Act of 1967. Moreover, her pioneering achievements as a woman attorney, her distinguished career in the practice of family law, and her personal qualities of leadership make her an exemplary role model for women everywhere. Some highlights of her extraordinary career include:

Only woman in her law school class at SMU (while rearing three young sons)
First woman assistant district attorney in Dallas
First woman director of the State Bar of Texas and chair of the board of the Texas Bar Foundation
Chair of the Family Law Section of the Texas Bar and the American Bar
Bar awards: Outstanding Trial Lawyer (1993), Presidents' (1987), Citation of Merit (1967)
Recipient of one of the most prestigious awards for women, the American Bar Association's Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, along with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno, and the late U.S. legislator Barbara Jordan
Listed in "The Best Lawyers in America," "Who's Who in America," and various law lists for many years
Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from SMU, 1996

"Each generation faces its own challenges. And never think you have it made; that is what happened after women won the right to vote."

-Louise Ballerstedt Raggio

About Women's Studies at SMU

Joining Raggio as a pioneer for women's issues and challenging young women to achieve their leadership potential is the Women's Studies Program at SMU. Since 1973, this unique program has been an integral part of the SMU curriculum:

Creating new and innovative courses for SMU students
Providing increased opportunities for cross-disciplinary studies
Sponsoring campus and community events
Offering awards for teaching, research, and scholarship to SMU students and faculty
Presenting students with role models of achievement

Join us in thanking and honoring this extraordinary woman with a gift to help establish The Louise Ballerstedt Raggio Lecture Series in Women's Studies at Southern Methodist University's Dedman College.

To make your gift, please make checks payable to SMU

Mail to:

The Louise Ballerstedt Raggio Lecture Series

Southern Methodist University

P.O. Box 750281

Dallas, TX 75275-0281

For more information, please call 214-768-2610

or e-mail the SMU Women's Studies Program