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ImeIme Umana

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ImeIme Umana
Alma materHarvard University
OccupationLawyer
Known forFirst black female president of Harvard Law Review

ImeIme Umana (born 1993) is an American lawyer who served as a law clerk for Robert L. Wilkins[1] and Sonia Sotomayor. She was the 131st president—and the first black female president—of the Harvard Law Review.[2][3]

Early life and education

Umana was born in State College, Pennsylvania, to Nigerian immigrant parents originally from Akwa Ibom State in Nigeria.[4][5]

She had her high school education at Susquehanna Township High School in Harrisburg. She graduated from Harvard College in 2014, earning a BA with a joint concentration in African American studies and Government.[3][4][6][7] She earned a degree in law from Harvard and a Master of Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.[1][8]

Career

While obtaining her bachelor's degree, she served as president of the Harvard Institute of Politics and worked at the university's Hiphop Archive.[9] She interned at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, served as both the Community Action Chair of the Harvard University Institute of Politics and Professional Developmental Chair for Public Interest for the Harvard Black Law Students Association.[10][11][12]

On January 29, 2017, she was appointed president of the Harvard Law Review by the review's 92 student editors. She was among 12 candidates, eight of whom were women and eight of whom were people of color. All candidates were made to answer questions from a forum of editors, write responses to submitted questions and participate in mock editorial activities.[8][13][14]

Umana served as a law clerk for Robert L. Wilkins of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2018 to 2019.[1] She was a law clerk for justice Sonia Sotomayor of the Supreme Court of the United States from 2020 to 2021.[15]

Umana went on to work in the District of Columbia's Public Defender's office.[16] In 2022, she wrote an op-ed in British Vogue about the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first black woman and first former federal public defender to the Supreme Court of the United States.[16]

Awards

  • 2017 - African Diaspora Awards[17]
  • 2017 - Most Influential People of African Descent Award[18]
  • 2019 - Soros Justice Fellows[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Soros Justice Fellowships". opensocietyfoundations.org. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  2. ^ "Harvard Law Review elects first black woman president in its 130-year history". The Independent. February 28, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Meet Harvard Law Review's First Black Female President". NBC 10 Philadelphia. February 16, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  4. ^ a b Seelye, Katharine Q. (February 27, 2017). "After 130 Years, Harvard Law Review Elects a Black Woman President". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  5. ^ "Harvard Law Review elects its first black woman as president". The Birmingham Times. March 13, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  6. ^ "First Black woman elected president of Harvard Law Review". The Louisiana Weekly. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  7. ^ "Harvard Law Review Elects 1st Black Female President in Its 130-Year History". The Root. February 9, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Larkin, Alexandra (February 28, 2017). "130-year-old Harvard Law Review elects its first African-American woman president". CNN. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  9. ^ Estrada, Sheryl (February 1, 2017). "First Black Woman Elected President of Harvard Law Review". DiversityInc. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  10. ^ "Nigerian-American Imeime Umana elected President of Harvard Law Review". Financial Nigeria International Limited. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  11. ^ Kazeem, Yomi (February 3, 2017). "Harvard Law Review has elected its first black female president". Quartz Africa. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  12. ^ "Imelme Umana Elected as First Black Female Harvard Law Review President". The Washington Informer. January 31, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  13. ^ "Law Review Elects First Black Woman President". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  14. ^ "Nigerian-American ImeIme Umana is first black woman in 130 years to be elected as President of Harvard Law Review, 27 years after Barack Obama held same office". TODAY NEWS AFRICA USA. September 16, 2019. Archived from the original on November 2, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  15. ^ "Supreme Court Clerk Hiring Watch: The Complete Clerk Roster For October Term 2019". Above the Law. January 21, 2020. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  16. ^ a b ""Ours Is A Country Desperate For Hope": A Public Defender Reflects On The Historic Appointment Of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson". British Vogue. August 19, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  17. ^ "Awards". Society For Africans In Diaspora. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  18. ^ "Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) honorees". CNN. May 25, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  19. ^ "Open Society Foundations Announces 2019 Soros Justice Fellows". Philanthropy News Digest (PND). Retrieved November 2, 2019.
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