Mizzou Law alumna, Kayla Jackson-Williams (’16), is running unopposed for the position of family law judge in Boone County. When she takes the seat, she will become the first Black Boone County Judge.…
Timeline: History of University of Missouri School of Law ⋅ Page 1
Needra Jackson is First Black Law Librarian
Needra Jackson was the Black woman serving as a non-regular faculty member at the University of Missouri Law School. She served in several different positions within the Law Library, including head of the Circulation Department, the Reference Department, and as the Head of the Collection Development Department at her retirement in 2020.…
Kylar Broadus, Black Trans Attorney, Activist, Author, Professor, and Public Speaker, Graduates from Mizzou Law
Kylar Broadus, a Black trans man and a pioneer in the LGBT movement, graduated from Mizzou Law in 1988. Prof. Broadus is an attorney, activist, author, public speaker, and a professor at the historically black Lincoln University in Jefferson City,…
Judge Robin Ransom Is First Black Woman Appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court
Judge Robin Ransom was selected by Governor Mike Parson to replace Judge Laura Denvir Stith on the Missouri Supreme Court. She is the first Black woman to join the…
Wesley Bell Becomes First African American Prosecuting Attorney for St. Louis County, Missouri
Wesley Bell is the Prosecuting Attorney for St. Louis County, Missouri. He was sworn in to office on January 1st, 2019 and is the first African American to serve in this position. Elected in a 2018 landslide, Wesley ran a vigorous grassroots campaign to unseat a 28 year incumbent by a 14 point…
Lyrissa B. Lidsky Becomes First Female Dean of Mizzou Law
Lyrissa Lidsky is Dean of the University of Missouri School of Law and Judge C.A. Leedy Professor of Law, and the focus of her research and teaching is the intersection of Tort Law and the First Amendment, with an emphasis on free speech issues in social media. Missouri Lawyers Media named Lidsky its 2020 Woman of the Year based on…
Mary E. Nelson is First African American Woman to Be Appointed Director of Boards and Commissions
Mary Nelson has many ‘firsts’ under her belt. Before she was Governor Jay Nixon’s Director of Boards and Commissions, Ms. Nelson was the first African American elected to membership in the 80-year history of the law firm, Lashly and Baer. She was later appointed by Governor Nixon to serve as a Commissioner on the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission and…
Eric K. Banks First Black Mizzou Law Graduate to Serve as St. Louis City Counselor
Eric Banks (’80) became St. Louis City Counselor from 1997 to January 1999. He then became the first African American graduate named partner in a major law firm (Thompson Coburn LLC). Banks formed his own law firm, Banks Law, LLC., where he currently…
Win Nickens Becomes First Black President of Mizzou SBA
Win Nickens became the first SBA president that was African…
Edward Blakely Graduates from Mizzou Law
Blakely had a neuro-muscular condition that limited the use of his legs and forced him to use a wheelchair. While in law school, the only accomodation he asked for was extra time to take exams because he “wouldn’t accept that [he] was different than anyone…