Jennifer M. Collins Women's Leadership Initiative

 

The Jennifer M. Collins Women’s Leadership Initiative aims to enhance the leadership and professional skills of women SMU Law students and practicing attorneys and address the unique challenges they may face during their education and throughout their careers. Led by Dedman Law Director of Alumni Relations Christine Leatherberry, this Initiative addresses issues such as retaining women in the legal profession, elevating women in leadership positions, and enhancing rainmaking and networking skills. 


The Braly Family Foundation gift establishes the Jennifer M. Collins Women’s Leadership Initiative

Angela Braly

A gift generously given by The Braly Family Foundation in honor of Jennifer Collins, Dean of SMU Dedman School of Law, will establish the Jennifer M. Collins Women’s Leadership Initiative at SMU Dedman School of Law. 

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A History of SMU Law Women

1925 Erin Bain Jones ’28 enrolls in first law school class at SMU and becomes first woman to graduate from SMU School of Law

1949 Patsy Smith ’49 graduates from SMU School of Law and becomes one of the first women attorneys in Lubbock

1954 Louise Raggio ’52 becomes the first woman assistant district attorney in Dallas County

1955 Ruby Braden Curl becomes first African-American student admitted at SMU School of Law

1959 Frances Spears Cloyd ’59 becomes first woman to earn an L.L.M. degree from SMU School of Law

1961 Earldean V.S. Robbins becomes first African-American student to graduate SMU School of Law

1961 Adelfa Botello Callejo ’61 becomes first Hispanic woman to graduate from SMU School of Law, as well as first Hispanic woman to practice law in Dallas

1967 Led by State Bar of Texas Family Law Section chair and alum Louise Raggio ’52 and SMU 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.

1968 Joan Tarpley Winn ’68 graduates SMU School of Law and becomes the first African-American woman to practice law in Dallas County

1970 Beverly Carl becomes first woman tenured full professor at SMU School of Law

1975 Five SMU 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.

1978 Joan Tarpley Winn ’68 becomes the first African-American woman to be appointed to a district court

1981 Sharon N. Freytag ’81 becomes first woman Editor-in-Chief of the SMU Law Review (formerly The Southwestern Law Journal)

1983 Annette Stewart ’66 becomes first woman appointed to the Dallas Court of Appeals

1985 Harriet E. Miers ’70 becomes first woman to serve as Dallas Bar Association President

1988 Barbara Culver ’51 becomes the second woman appointed as a Justice of the Texas Supreme Court

1992 Illona Sheffey Rawlings becomes first African-American woman to serve on the faculty

1992-1993 Harriet Miers ’70 becomes first woman to serve as State Bar of Texas President 

2004 Rhonda Hunter ’80 becomes the first person of color to serve as Dallas Bar Association President

2011 Sarah Saldaña ’84 becomes first Hispanic woman to serve as a U.S. Attorney in Texas

2013 Mary L. Murphy ’83 becomes first woman to serve as an administrative regional judge in Texas

2013-2014 Julie Forrester becomes the first woman dean ad interim at SMU Dedman School of Law

2014 Jennifer M. Collins becomes the first woman dean at SMU Dedman School of Law

2015 Jessica Dixon Weaver becomes first African-American woman to earn tenure

2016 Barbara M.G. Lynn ’76 becomes first woman appointed as Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

2017 Lolita Bucker Inniss becomes first African-American woman appointed as full professor

2019 Laura Geisler ’97 becomes first Hispanic to serve as Dallas Bar Association President