UA News

Law professor Barbara Atwood earned her law degree from the UA in 1976 and went on to become nationally known in the area of family law.

Barbara Atwood was among a large cohort of women to begin pursuing legal degrees at the University of Arizona during the 1970s, a spike that was attributed in part to the women's rights movement. 

After graduating, Atwood, who is now the Mary Anne Richey Professor of Law at the UA's James E. Rogers College of Law, would go on to promote the advancement of women in the legal profession, both in practice and as a faculty member.

In recognition of her contributions, Atwood has earned the Arizona Women Lawyers Association's 2009 Alice Truman Leadership Award. The organization's Southern Arizona chapter granted the award – which honors those who support women working toward becoming lawyers – to Atwood last month.

"Being the first large group of women to appear in this law school, at the same time as it was happening across the country, just felt exciting," said Atwood, who earned her juris doctor degree from the UA law school in 1976.

There were challenges for Atwood and her women classmates, which led her to help establish the Law Women's Association during her law school years, and then helped found the Arizona Women Lawyers Association after graduation.

"It's very flattering and meaningful because of my long association with this group," she said, noting that a number of her students and mentees have become involved with the Arizona Women Lawyers Association.

Ana Perez-Arrieta, presidents of the association's Southern Arizona chapter, said Atwood is deserving of recognition because of unyielding support of other women lawyers and women in law school. 

"She has demonstrated support and encouragement for the advancement of women in the legal profession for over 30 years," said Perez-Arrieta, an associate with the law firm Snell & Wilmer.

As a faculty member, Atwood worked with the association to establish a formal delay of the tenure time clock at the UA for male and female faculty who were having or adopting children. The association's work led to the enactment of the same policy by the Arizona Board of Regents for tenure-track faculty at each of the state universities.

"I was very happy to be part of that movement in the late 1980s," she said, "and really enjoyed working with other women who were trying to bring about change." 

After earning her law degree, Atwood worked as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division.

While there, the UA law school dean asked if Atwood would take a one-year appointment to fill in for a faculty member who was on leave. While Atwood felt it was too soon to take a faculty position, having graduated from the UA only four years prior, she agreed. 

It was during that time that Atwood discovered her love for teaching. 

In 1981, Atwood accepted a faculty position at the University of Houston's law school and, after five years, returned to the UA, where she accepted a permanent appointment as a full professor at the law school.

Returning to Tucson was the ideal situation for Atwood, she said, noting that not only did she want to raise a family in Arizona, but she had great respect for the law school. 

"When I got the job offer at the UA it was perfect," Atwood said. "The college has a very strong faculty and has become an even more supportive environment for students than it was."

She also served for six years on the Arizona Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission, a position that ended in 2007 but has continued to be influential on her teaching.

"The attorney discipline work helped me to understand the pressures those in the legal profession deal with," said Atwood, who has taught representation of children, civil rights litigation, and a course on women in the law, among other classes.

"Our education process must get across to students that being a lawyer is a serious responsibility," Atwood said.

"The harder they work now, the better they can serve people," she said. "I tell them that they are not just here for a grade. Clients are going to trust them with their livelihoods, and sometimes clients’ lives will literally be in their hands."

In addition to being known nationally for her work in the field of family law, Atwood was engaged in the women's rights movement and helped establish the Tucson Women's Center and the first crisis center in the city for victims of rape.

Atwood also enjoys writing poetry and in 1973, during her first year in law school at the UA, helped launch Antigone Books, an independent bookstore in Tucson specializing in literature about women. 

She previously chaired the American Association of Law Schools' Family and Juvenile Law Section and also is a member of the International Society for Family Law.

Atwood has earned numerous other awards, and it isn't the first time she has been honored by the Arizona Women Lawyers Association.

In 2004, the organization granted her its Sarah Sorin Award. That same year, she earned the Graduate College's Graduate and Professional Education Teaching and Mentoring Award.

In years prior, Atwood was given the UA law school's Distinguished Alumnus Award, the Leslie F. and Patricia Bell Faculty Award for outstanding faculty achievement and the YWCA Women on the Move Award.

About her most recent honor, Atwood said the recognition has been gratifying. 

"I have friends from my law school days in the association, along with many, many former students." she said. "It is wonderful to be recognized by them."