A Brief History of Women at the George Washington University Law School

The George Washington University Law School has long been at the forefront of the legal education of women.

In 1873, Lydia S. Hall and the renowned feminist Belva Lockwood became the first women to receive a B.L. from the National University Law School, which later merged with Columbian University Law School, as the Law School was then known. Lockwood went on to become the first woman admitted to the Bar of the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the second female U.S. presidential candidate.

In 1900, the Law School began admitting women into its Master of Laws degree program. Two years later, Emma Reba Bailey became the first woman to receive the Master of Laws degree from the Law School. Marion Clark, in 1916, became the first woman to receive the LL.B. degree. In 1960, Janet Kohn became the first woman to join the editorial board of Law Review.

Elyce Zenoff became the first woman to join the Law School's faculty in 1963. A professorship in Zenoff's name and honor was established by the Law School. Professor May Cheh is the current Elyce Zenoff Research Professor of Law. In 1981, Professor Teresa Moran Schwartz became the first female dean of the Law School, initially serving as the associate dean of students and later as associate dean of academic affairs.

Over the years, the Law School has enjoyed considerable growth in the number of women in its student body and faculty. In 1964, 60 women attended the school compared to 986 men. In 1971, the female/male ration was 1224/224. In 1991, the number of women attending the Law School jumped to 567, as compared to 884 men that year. During the 2001-2002 school year, 701 women attended the Law School, making up 47% of the student body. Furthermore, currently there are 29 female full-time faculty and deans at the Law School.