Janet Reno

Janet Reno will be awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Ms Reno became the first woman Attorney General of the United States when she was appointed by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and again in 1997. Ms. Reno previously had served for 15 years as chief prosecutor for Florida's Dade County. In winning five tough elections to that post, critics and supporters alike credited her reputation as a public official of "ramrod integrity" and the "most accessible public figure in the state of Florida" as the key elements of her election victories. A 1963 graduate of Harvard Law School, Ms. Reno was among 16 women in a class of 500. Her gender presented challenges in pursuing her legal career. But she later would become a partner in a prominent Miami law firm that had first refused to hire her because she is a woman.Throughout her public law career, she has been credited with aggressive prosecution of violent criminals, prevention and early intervention efforts to protect children from violence and drugs, enforcement of civil rights and equal opportunity, and leadership of the Justice Department's goals of professionalism, integrity and employment diversity.