UT Latin American Law Center Named for Kay Bailey Hutchison

By Jordan Schraeder in Blog on July 10, 2013 at 3:59 pm | 3 Comments

Kay Bailey

Texas Ex and March|April Alcalde cover star Kay Bailey Hutchison left quite the legacy when she retired from the U.S. Senate in January after serving for nearly 20 years. Now she’s making her mark—literally—on the Forty Acres, too.

The University announced today that it is establishing the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Latin American Law in honor of the distinguished UT alumna, who graduated from the School of Law in 1967. The center will help support symposia, student exchanges, and scholars-in-residence, and will encourage increased collaboration between the University and its Latin American colleagues.

“The Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Latin American Law will add another dimension to the focus of UT on being the pre-eminent American academic institution for Latin American studies in business, culture, and law,” said Hutchison, LLB ’67, BA ’92, Life Member, Distinguished Alumna, in a press release.

An avid supporter of UT for decades, Hutchison was also honored with a chair in Latin American Law at UT back in 2004. That chair, now valued at more than $2.5 million, supports student and faculty exchanges, as well as research and teaching on legal issues between Latin America and the U.S.

In a statement, President Bill Powers acknowledged Hutchison’s “long and cherished” relationship with her alma mater. The former UT cheerleader also has a storied past with the Alcalde. Check her out on this 1991 cover spotlighting the “Women of the New Texas,” and listen to her in the UT Advocates podcast below.