Law Commencement Speaker Roberta Ramo

A graduate, magna cum laude, of the University of Colorado in 1964, Roberta Cooper Ramo earned her law degree from the University of Chicago in 1967.  She received honorary degrees from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, the University of Colorado, the University of Denver, the University of South Carolina and Golden Gate University.  She is a shareholder with Modrall, Sperling, Roehl, Harris & Sisk law firm in New Mexico.  Her areas of concentration are mediation, arbitration, business law, real estate and related matters, including professional corporation, probate and estate planning.

In 1995, Mrs. Ramo became the President of the American Bar Association, the first woman in history to head the world’s largest organization of attorneys.  In May 2008, Mrs. Ramo became the first woman president of The American Law Institute, ALI.  The ALI is the leading organization in the country dedicated to reforming and clarifying the law.

Mrs. Ramo is currently a member of a new American Bar Association Commission now looking at the Rules of Professional Responsibility and making recommendations on changes especially related to electronic and computer issues for the American Bar Association.  She is Chair of the ABA’s Rule of Law Initiative, serves on panels for the American Arbitration Association, the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution’s National Panel of Distinguished Neutrals, and is a member of the non-partisan think tank, Think New Mexico.  In 2000, she was made an honorary member of the Bar of England and Wales, and of Gray’s Inn. Mrs. Ramo is a fellow of both the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the American Bar Foundation. 

She also serves on the Board of CIVITAS, a nonprofit organization  whose mission is to give parents and care givers the best information on raising healthy, productive children.  She has served as a board member with numerous other professional and civic organizations and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Santa Fe Opera.

In 1997 she was the Schwartz Visiting Scholar at the University of Chicago Law School.  She served six years on the University of New Mexico Board of Regents and was President of the Board for two years.  During her tenure, she led the University of New Mexico in establishing a science and technology corporation, through major real estate management issues, and instituted long-range strategic planning.