Nigerian women are making waves and they should be celebrated. A few days ago, Wendy Okolo, Aerospace Research Engineer NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley became a publicised case. Before then, the founder of Stand To End Rape, Ayodeji Osowobi was named Commonwealth Young Person of the Year.
Now, 43-year-old Dehlia Umunna has become the
first Nigerian to be appointed Professor in Harvard School of Law. She
was appointed Clinical Professor of Law.
Martha Minow, Dean of Harvard Law School has since said, “Dehlia’s students revere her; her colleagues at HLS and nationally look to her as an exemplary advocate, teacher, and mentor.
"From her unprecedented win record in
criminal defense trials, her deft leadership of the Criminal Justice
Institute day-to-day, and her superb coaching of student moot court
teams, her published scholarship, to her numerous awards in recognition
of her outstanding work as a criminal defense attorney, advisor, and
teacher.
"Dehlia is simply extraordinary, an
inspiration to her students and her clients in every way. It is a true
privilege to be her colleague.”
According to Harvard Law Today, Umunna has been a lecturer at Harvard Law School since 2007. She is the author of the article, “Rethinking
the Neighborhood Watch: How Lessons from the Nigerian Village Can
Creatively Empower the Community to Assist Poor, Single Mothers in
America,” which was published in the American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law.
She is also Deputy Director and Clinical Instructor at Harvard Law School Criminal Justice Institute (CJI),
through which she supervises third-year law students in criminal and
juvenile proceedings and arguments before Massachusetts’ Supreme
Judicial Court and Appeals court.
These students represent adult and
juvenile clients. Before joining Harvard, Law School, Umunna was was a
trial attorney with the D.C. Public Defender Service and an adjunct
professor of law and Practitioner in Residence at the Washington College of Law, American University.
In her career, the eminent Lawyer has was a lecturer for several years at the George Washington University Law School.
In addition, Umunna is a board member of the
District of Columbia Law Students Law Clinic. She currently serves as a
faculty member for Gideon’s Promise, and is a frequent presenter at
Public Defender trainings across the country.
Sharing her joy, Umunna said, “I am blessed and honored to join Harvard Law School’s remarkable faculty.
“I relish this extraordinary opportunity
to continue work that I am truly passionate about, and I am grateful for
the deep interest and commitment of the school to issues of criminal
justice, mass incarceration, indigent defense and social justice.”
Educationally, Umunna holds a Law degree from the George Washington University Law Center and a Masters in Public Administration (MC) from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
She also has a B.A. in Communications from California State University, San Bernardino.
No comments:
Post a Comment