preLaw Magazine - Winter 2008 - (Page 11) PROFILE Trailblazer Karen Rothenberg, dean of Maryland Law School, is at the forefront of legal education with her commitment to public service. BY MICHELLE WEYENBERG aren Rothenberg grew up in the 1960s, during a time when social activism was a way of life and she thought she really could change the world. “I believed that if I participated in that process, I could make a better world,” Rothenberg said of her high school and college years. Now 55 and dean of the University of Maryland School of Law, Rothenberg still is working to fulfill that ideal. In October, she received the Dean John R. Kramer Award from Equal Justice Works. The award recognizes her dedication to nurturing an outstanding spirit of public service at Maryland Law. The law school, nationally known for its strong commitment to public interest and public service, requires every student to commit to helping others. Called the Cardin Requirement (for Maryland alumnus U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.), the policy mandates that students participate in clinical and legal theory courses that integrate faculty instruction with practice experience. “It was very gratifying for the law school to be commended,” Rothenberg said of the award. “It’s my role to support this mission.” Director of Pro Bono & Public Service Initiatives M. Teresa Schmiedeler nominated Rothenberg for the Kramer Award, praising her strong support of students interested in public service opportunities. Historically a trailblazer, Rothenberg graduated with the first class of women at Princeton University, where she received both her B.A., magna cum laude and M.P.A. from the Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in four years. “Growing up I always thought I was going to be either a president or senator,” she said. In some ways, she fulfilled that dream: She served as president of her high school class and later as study body president of Princeton University. But her initial goal after college was to K In 1999, Dean Karen Rothenberg became the first woman to head the UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF LAW in its 185-year history. Historically a trailblazer, she has twice been named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women. change the health care system in order to assure that everyone had a right to medical care. But after working for a few years in that field after graduation, she realized that attending law school would help her in getting new policies adopted. That led her to enroll in the University of Virginia School of Law. While she was working at the firm Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., the University of Maryland recruited her into the academic world. She’s taught since 1983. At Maryland, Rothenberg founded the Law and Health Care Program and became an expert on issues involving health law and public policy. Her research interests include the legal and social implications of genetic testing, women’s health, the rights of patients and human subjects, AIDS, Winter 2008 11
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