News

Rick Plunkett (’84), who founded the Minnesota Justice Foundation during his 1L year at the Law School, died Nov. 2 at his home in Rochester, Minn. The cause of death was cancer.

While an undergraduate at the University, Plunkett served as president of the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group. After graduating with honors from the Law School, he practiced law for five years before joining his family’s cable, banking, and real estate businesses in the Rochester area.

A new report from the University of Minnesota Energy Transition Lab—a strategic initiative of Institute on the Environment, supported by the Law School and the Office of the Vice President for Research—predicts that an expanding clean energy economy will create more than 5,000 jobs and over $7 billion in direct economic impact in 18 mostly rural Minnesota counties. Read more about the report here.

On October 13, 2016, the Center for New Americans convened local and national experts for “Immigration Nation: Writing Our Next Chapter,” a panel designed to discuss a variety of immigration-related topics. Panelists included Kalia Abiade, the advocacy director of the Center for New Community; Alondra Cano, Minneapolis City Council member representing the Ninth Ward; Karen Francois, assistant commissioner of the Office of Economic Equity and Opportunity; and Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The Federal Bar Association has announced that Senior Judge Michael J. Davis (’72) of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota has been honored with the 2016 Sarah T. Hughes Civil Rights Award. Named for the first woman to serve on the federal bench in Texas, the award is presented each year to an attorney or judge whose career achievements have made a difference in advancing the causes that were important to Judge Hughes, who was a pioneer in the fight for civil rights, due process, equal protection, social concerns, and the rights of women.

Judges can appear aloof. After all, they don black robes, are perched on high platforms, and make rulings that are rarely overturned.

Sonia Sotomayor, an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, is not that kind of judge.

As the featured speaker at the 2016 Stein Lecture, sponsored by the Law School, Sotomayor wandered the aisles of Northrop Memorial Auditorium, shaking hands and sometimes embracing audience members while answering questions.

“My mother called me ají, which is ‘jumping pepper’ in Spanish,” she explained.

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has appointed Timothy Mulrooney (’94) to serve as a district judge in the state’s 2nd Judicial District, which encompasses Ramsey County. In making the appointment, Dayton praised Mulrooney for the “commitment to justice and service” he had demonstrated throughout his “exceptional career.”

University President Eric Kaler has awarded the prestigious McKnight Presidential Professorship—one of the highest honors a University of Minnesota faculty member can receive—to Ruth Okediji, who has been the Law School’s William L. Prosser Professor of Law since 2003. Okediji is the third member of the Law School faculty to be so honored; the others are Susan Wolf (2006) and Michael Tonry (2011).

The Heisman Trust has announced that Alan Page (’78), a former Minnesota Supreme Court justice and a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, will be honored with the 2016 Heisman Humanitarian Award. Page will be the 11th recipient of the award. He was selected, the trust said in a statement, in recognition of his “tireless efforts in assisting students of color achieve their dreams in furthering their education.”

Executive vice president and provost Karen Hanson has announced that the University of Minnesota’s first Grand Challenges Grants, totaling $3.6 million in support, have been awarded to 29 teams of faculty from across the Twin Cities campus. The interdisciplinary teams include five principal investigators (PIs) from the Law School faculty: Professors Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Myron Orfield, Hari Osofsky, Francis Shen, and Susan Wolf. Working in alignment with Driving Tomorrow, the campus’s overarching strategic plan, the teams will address critical challenges facing Minnesota and the world.

Brendan Delany (’17) has been named the winner of the 2016 Admiral John S. Jenkins Prize for Excellence in Military Studies for his essay “Just Wars with Unjust Allies: Use of Force and Human Rights Considerations on the Russian Intervention in Syria.” The essay competition is conducted by the National Institute of Military Justice and is open to all students of military law who have not yet completed their J.D. studies. Submissions are judged by a committee of law professors and practitioners.