Chief Justice (Retired) Connecticut Supreme Court
2001
Citation:
Throughout your illustrious legal career as a member of the judiciary and as a legal educator, you have demonstrated your unwavering commitment to the administration of justice with equality and fairness. Recognized as a leader in Connecticut's judicial community, you have the distinction of being the first women appointed to the Connecticut Supreme Court in 1978. Seven years later, you were sworn in as chief Justice of that same court. Although you retired from that position in 1996, you continue to be actively involved in the court, currently serving as a senior justice. Prior to joining the judiciary, you distinguished yourself as the first female tenured professor and holder of a professorial chair at Yale Law School, where you taught contracts and commercial law for nearly twenty years. As an outstanding teacher and mentor to thousands of young men and women, you imparted your deep passion for justice and dedication to legal scholarship. You also shared your legal knowledge and expert opinions through your books and law review articles. Your judicial opinions have served as a beacon for courts, a source of wisdom for lawyers, and enlightenment for law students. The modes of analysis and justification that you have employed in your exposition of the law have established your rightful place among the great commercial judges in our nation's history. Because of your exceptional professional contributions, you have received many honors and accolades including numerous honorary degrees. You were the first recipient of the Ella T. Grasso Distinguished Service Award and were also recognized with the Judiciary Award of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association, the Yale School Distinguished Service Medal and the Hartford College for Women Pioneer Women Award, among other honors. You have also served on numerous committees and boards, including the National Board of Directors of the Conference of Chief Justices, and became its first woman president in 1994. In recognition of your dedication to justice and your leadership as both a jurist and as academic, the University of Detroit Mercy is proud to confer upon you the Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree. Commencement, University of Detroit Mercy, School of Law, May 13, 2001.