Newswise — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will be at Arizona State University March 25 to deliver this year's John P. Frank Memorial Lecture. The former Arizona governor will speak on "Meeting New and Evolving Threats to Our National Security."
The lecture will be held at 7 p.m. in the Evelyn Smith Music Theatre on ASU's Tempe campus. The event is free and open to the public, though seating is limited and reservations are requested to be made online at http://justice.clas.asu.edu/lectures.
“It is especially fitting for Secretary Napolitano to speak at this annual lecture. John Frank was her mentor, colleague and close friend for many years. She has been involved with the lecture series since its inception, working with us to bring outstanding speakers on topics of social justice, law and policy to campus,” said Marjorie Zatz, professor and director of justice and social inquiry at ASU’s School of Social Transformation in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The endowed lecture series, with support from the law firm Lewis and Roca, which Napolitano joined after serving as a law clerk for Judge Mary M. Schroeder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, honors the memory of Frank, a Maricopa County attorney who died in 2002. Frank, who began his career at Lewis and Roca in 1954, was an advocate for social justice and is best known for representing Ernesto Miranda before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1966. He was a legal scholar and historian who authored 11 books.
“John Frank’s opinion was highly sought and regarded by presidents and Supreme Court justices alike,” said Zatz. “He was incredibly talented and he knew how to use the law to enact social change. Throughout his life’s work, John was committed to making our nation and our communities better, more just, places for all.”
Napolitano, prior to being sworn in as the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security on Jan. 21, 2009, was mid-way through her second term as governor of Arizona. She was the first woman to chair the National Governors Association, where she was instrumental in creating the Public Safety Task Force and the Homeland Security Advisors Council.
Previously, Napolitano served as U.S. attorney for the District of Arizona from 1993 to 1997, and attorney general of Arizona from 1999 to 2002.
Napolitano’s homeland security background is extensive. As a federal prosecutor, she helped lead the domestic terrorism investigation into the Oklahoma City bombing, and as Arizona’s attorney general she helped write the law to break up human smuggling rings. As governor, she implemented one of the first state homeland security strategies in the nation, opened the first state counter-terrorism center, and spearheaded efforts to transform immigration enforcement.
Born in New York and raised primarily in Pittsburgh and Albuquerque, Napolitano graduated from Santa Clara University in 1979, where she won a Truman Scholarship and was the school’s first woman valedictorian. She received her Juris Doctor in 1983 from the University of Virginia School of Law.
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY (www.asu.edu)College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (http://clas.asu.edu)School of Social Transformation (http://sst.clas.asu.edu)Tempe, Arizona USA
Photo available to download at:http://asunews.asu.edu/20100309_napolitano
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