Women and Law, a student organization at Santa Clara University School of Law, has recognized Professor Cynthia Mertens as a Bay Area Woman of Distinction at their annual banquet.
The Banquet and Award Presentation was held on January 31, 2004 at the San Jose Hyatt. A silent auction to raise funds for the Women and Law scholarship was also part of the entertainment.
Professor Mertens, born and raised in Palo Alto in a family where social justice issues kindled much discussion and action, graduated from Stanford University in 1969 and U.C. Hastings in 1972. She then served as a California Rural Legal Assistance attorney. She joined the SCU law faculty in 1975 and specializes in real property, real estate finance and development, the law relating to real estate brokers, and issues relating to the foreclosure process. She has served on the Board of Directors of numerous non-profit organizations, including Child Advocates of Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. A faculty immersion trip to El Salvador in March 2001 re-ignited Professor Mertens’ desire to address some of the social justice issues in her community in a “hands-on” way. Therefore, when the dean of the law school asked her to step in as Interim Director of the East San Jose Community Law Center, she accepted. She has since led a law school student immersion trip to El Salvador.
Also honored was Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey. Since she was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1992, Congresswoman Woolsey has worked to make children, and their education, our nation’s top priority. This commitment stems from her experience as a single mom on welfare with three small children. Eventually she worked her way off welfare, and today she is the first former welfare mom to serve in Congress. Her dedication to the future of our children is reflected in her leadership roles as the Chair of the Democratic Caucus Task Force on Children and the Ranking Member of the House Education Committee’s Subcommittee on Education Reform. She has lived, worked, and raised a family in the North Bay for over 30 years.
