Federal and International Government

Ann Aiken, BS ’74 (political science), JD ’79

US District Court Judge for the District of Oregon 

Aiken was nominated by President Bill Clinton to serve on the United States District Court for the District of Oregon. In 1998 she was confirmed, and in 2009 Aiken was the first woman to become chief judge of the court in the District of Oregon. She served in that capacity until 2016.

Early in Aiken's tenure, she said that it was her goal to open doors and provide opportunities for student externs, and full-time students in her chambers. In an interview with NBC, Aiken said that she feels a special bond for the next generation of lawyers — including minority men and women and diverse populations. She also shared her desire to set high expectations for quality professional work for those seeking to practice law. 

Through her decades of service, Aiken has invested in the professional development and mentorship of Oregon Law students. Aiken regularly hires UO law clerks and grad clerks and she hosts new UO students at the law school's annual “The Art of the Possible” at the Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse in Eugene.

“I benefited simply by getting the chance to meet former Justice Betty Roberts in the legislature — my mentor for 40 years,” Aiken told NBC. “[It] never occurred to me that I could be a lawyer. Having a role model and someone who looks like you at the table doing the work that you’d like to do is always important.”

Learn more about Aiken’s commitment to Oregon Law students.

Tammy Smith, BS ’86 (history)

Ret. Major General US Army Reserve 

Smith is a retired major general of the US Army Reserve. A first-generation college student, Smith attended the UO through an ROTC scholarship. Because she didn’t come from a college family, Smith shared with the UO Alumni Association (UOAA) that she was “capable” but not “prepared” for academia. She struggled in coursework, but excelled in leadership.

Smith was one of two women in her ROTC class. Two years earlier, the first female cadets graduated from West Point. In 2012, Smith came out and became the military’s highest-ranking openly gay officer.

“From being an ROTC cadet to first being commissioned in the military, with time it gets increasingly risky,” Smith told the UOAA describing her life under the US Military’s Don’t Ask. Don’t Tell policy. “The risk becomes more of what you have to lose personally. Your peer group becomes smaller with promotions in ranks, and when you think about how few individuals around you might be LGBT friendly—as a senior officer you’re less willing to socialize. It becomes more isolating, because to avoid conversations about your personal life you inevitably avoid socializing with peers.”

She says that it has been a privilege to have healing conversations with those who were enlisted but were harmed by their discharge and felt let down by the government. By coming out she was able to meet people and to tell them that their service was just as valuable.

Even though Smith is retired, she still serves as an advocate for soldiers and their families. Smith and her wife, Tracey Hepner, cofounded the group, Military Partners and Families Coalition (MPFC), a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization based in Washington, DC. The purpose of the group is to provide support, resources, education and advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender military partners and their families.

Learn more about Smith’s accomplishments in the military and UO Experience

Hilda Heine, BS ’74 (social science)

Former President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands 

When Heine was elected the eighth president of the Marshall Islands, she became the first female head of state of an independent Pacific Island nation. She served in the position from 2016 to 2000. In a commencement speech at the University of Guam, Heine said that she ran for public office because she felt she could make a positive difference in people’s lives, in her constituency, and in the Marshall Islands as a whole.

Heine, who graduated from the UO's College of Arts and Sciences with a degree in general social science, served as the nation’s education minister before assuming her role. In addition to being the first female to head any independent Pacific Island nation, Heine was one of only three female members of the 33-member Marshallese parliament.

Decades before Heine served in public office, she advocated for women's rights. In 1987, she cofounded the group Women United Together Marshall Islands (WUTMI) that serves to create a Marshallese nation where all citizens - but particularly women citizens - are educated and healthy, engaged in the national discourse, content, and without fear.

In 2021, The University of the South Pacific appointed Heine to the Office of the Pro-Chancellor and Chair of Council for a three-year term.

Watch Hilda Heine's interview with Karena Lyons on East-West Center Insights

State Government

Ellen Rosenblum, BS ’71 (sociology); JD ’75

Oregon Attorney General 

When Rosenblum attended Oregon Law, her class was the first with nearly 30 percent women in the student body. But even with the increase in women Rosenblum notes that there were only “a trickle of minorities” and both underrepresented students and women were treated as a novelty.

"We were rarely called on in class, and I was personally warned against applying for certain summer clerkships in smaller Oregon towns,” Rosenblum said in her commencement speech at Oregon Law. “To make things more difficult, there were no full-time female faculty members to look to for guidance or as professional examples.”

While the support wasn't always available she took advantage of every opportunity. Rosenblum shared with the UOAA that being involved with OSPIRG (the Oregon Student public Interest Research Group) gave her a start in consumer advocacy. "I was in the very first 'class' of summer internships; from this opportunity I learned how to effectively lobby the legislature and get important consumer protection legislation passed," Rosenblum said. "My government career followed from this awareness and opportunity at the U of O."

Rosenblum graduated from Oregon Law and went on to serve as federal prosecutor and state trial and appellate judge. In 2012, she became the first woman to serve as Oregon Attorney General.

"I am now serving my third term as Oregon’s first woman Attorney General," Rosenblum said. "This is a statewide elected office and by statute I am the state’s chief legal officer. I honestly do not believe I would have been able to reach this pinnacle of public service to our beloved state if it had not been for the early influences of my alma mater, the University of Oregon."

Read Oregon Law's Q&A with Attorney General Rosenblum

Jamila Taylor, JD ’07

Washington Legislative District 30 State Representative Position 1 

A graduate of Oregon Law, Taylor is a crime victim's attorney, representing domestic violence survivors, a youth advocate, and small business owner. In 2020, Taylor was elected as a representative of District 30 for the state of Washington.

Taylor says that she’s proud of the experience and perspective that she brings to the legislature. For Taylor, they reflect her deep commitment to public service and positive change that works for all the people in her community.

In her short time in office, she has become the vice chair of the Housing, Human Services and Veterans Committee and serves on the Community & Economic Development and Transportation committees. When she conducts work on these committees, Taylor is not afraid to look outside of the box to find solutions.

“I am not interested in going to a 'new normal' where we are returning to what we had before [COVID-19] — I’m interested in the new possibilities,” Taylor said in an interview with Crosscut.

Taylor was also recently elected chair of the Washington State Legislative Black Caucus and leads the largest caucus of Black representatives in the state’s history.

She spoke with Northwest Public Broadcasting and shared that the Caucus is helping to change the conversation and narrative around racial equity. She notes that the Caucus will continue to work for the Black community to increase access to the economic development options and opportunities that are afforded to other communities in ways that they have traditionally been locked out of.

Discover more about Taylor's work in the legislature and with the Black Caucus

Andrea Valderrama, BA ’15 (romance languages)

Oregon State Representative, District 47

Andrea Valderrama, a longtime East Portland resident, became the first Peruvian-American to serve in the Oregon Legislature in 2021.

Valderrama attended the University of Oregon as a first-generation college student. She says that her work at the UO Women's Center provided her the political analysis, grassroots organizing, and event coordination experience necessary to hit the ground running in her career as a policy professional.

“The safe space and welcoming environment of the center is something I've yet to find replicated today and provided a foundation in my leadership and organizing philosophy today,” says Valderrama.

As a student, she was also an active member of MEChA, the Multicultural Center, the First-Year Interest Groups, and worked at the Knight Library.

“All of these spaces informed my policy making and government career by providing me the fundamentals needed in analysis, coalition building, and team work,” she said.

Prior to her current role with the Legislature, Valderrama worked as the policy director of the ACLU of Oregon, the advocacy director of Coalition of Communities of Color, and an outreach and a senior policy advisor with the City of Portland.

Valderrama knows that as the the first Peruvian American to serve in the Oregon State Legislature, she is now paving the way for others.

“I try to lead with my values in racial and economic justice and lean on my elders for wisdom,” she says. “I encourage young women and girls, especially women of color to pursue their interests and career aspirations because I believe when women lead, Oregon succeeds. I do this through hiring women and women of color, mentorship, and supporting other moms in every way I can.”

Paige Gebhardt Cognetti, BA ’02 (romance languages, English)

Mayor, Scranton, PA 

Cognetti is the current mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania and the first female to hold the position.

Before she became mayor in 2019, Cognetti worked on the Obama's 2008 presidential campaign in Pennsylvania recruiting volunteers. Following the election, she served in the US Treasury Department as a senior advisor to the Under Secretary for International Affairs. She also served as a director on the Scranton School Board, and prior to that was an investment adviser at Goldman Sachs.

When Cognetti was elected mayor, she mentioned that her professional experience, being from Oregon, providing a fresh perspective, and having her husband’s family from Scranton all made the difference in the election.

“I think people are ready to move on from the corruption. Being a woman is one thing. It's really exciting to make history tonight, but I believe my experience in the federal government, working in finance, I think those things are what really pushed me over," Cognetti said the night of her acceptance speech to ABC’s WNEP 16 news.

Cognetti recently shared with the Clark Honors College that as a student she was trained to think about others, the world around her, and the future in a positive way. For this reason, she has put a high priority showing people that her administration cares about its citizenry.

“No matter the color of their skin, what their sexual identity is, what their heritage is, whether they’ve lived here for 13 generations, or they just moved here, we want to serve them and help them,” said Cognetti in an interview with The Aquinas.

Meghan "Sigvanna" Topkok, JD ’17

Nome, Alaska City Council, Seat “D” 

While at the School of Law, Topkok was president for the National Native American Law Student Association. She was also an Environmental Natural Resource Law Center Fellow, and served on the Journal on Environmental Law and Litigation.

She shared with the Eugene Weekly that as a student she didn’t expect to go into law, but saw it as the most direct way to create change. To that end, Topkok became a staff attorney with Kawerak, Inc, a non-profit with the goal to assist Alaska Native people and their governing bodies to take control of their future. 

“I want to promote tribal sovereignty, and especially to incorporate traditional law, how we handle conflict, to overcome problems in our community,” Topkok said in the interview.

As part of her campaign for Nome City Council, Topkok, a member of the Inupiaq tribe, highlighted the lack of Native representation in city leadership. At the time of her candidacy, Topkok shared in an interview with the Nome Nugget that while over half of the Nome population was Alaska Native, and nearly half were female — neither were represented in city leadership.

"Even with the best intentions at heart, if you haven’t lived life in someone else’s shoes, it can be difficult to craft solutions to the issues they bring to the table," Topkok told the Nome Nugget. "Leaders are put in place to listen to all perspectives, review all the information, and proceed based on the information before them in making decisions that serve the best interests of their constituents."

Read Oregon Law's spotlight on Topkok

Nadia Hasan, BS ’04 (journalism)

Beaverton City Council, Position 6 

In 2020, Hasan became the first South Asian Muslim to be elected in Beaverton. She credits her time at the university for laying the foundation for the work that she does today.

While at the UO, Hasan was involved with the Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO) as a Senator, Programs Finance Committee member, and finance coordinator supporting the allocation of incidental fee funds. She was also involved with the Students of the Indian Subcontinent and the Muslim Students Association.

After graduation, Hasan pursed a career in business and marketing, and then pivoted into teaching high school for four years. Following her time as a teacher, she focused her work on talent acquisition and program management.

In her role on the City Council, Hasan hopes to help her local community thrive and to bring a new voice to the table and fresh perspectives.

“As we face a global pandemic and work to dismantle systemic racism, now more than ever, we need champions who will fight for our communities so we can have access to the rights, resources and recognition that every single person needs to thrive,” she says.

Looking back over her time in office, Hasan says, "I am humbled to be in this position, but we need more working moms and individuals with lived experiences of our communities at the decision-making table to make an impact. The pandemic highlighted key structural issues we must address in order to make a world where my kids, your kids and our kids can be seen, happy and prosperous."

Carmen Rubio, BA ’99 (political science)

Portland City Commissioner, Position 1

In 2020, Rubio become the first Latinx commissioner — and the second woman of color elected in Portland. Rubio credits her time at the UO as having a tremendous impact on her career path. While on campus, she became very active in student unions and governance, as well as volunteering on political campaigns.

“I was very involved in student activities during my time at the UO, including MEChA, the Multicultural Center, what was formerly the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the EMU Board, and other ASUO roles under two student presidents,” Rubio said in an interview with the UOAA.

Rubio says that her involvement opened many doors for her post-graduation. After the UO, she went on to work for County Commissioner Serena Cruz, Mayor Tom Potter and City Commissioner Nick Fish. She also served on the UOAA Board of Directors and was the executive director of Latino Network, a nonprofit that seeks to positively transform the lives of Latino youth, families, and communities throughout Portland.

Today, Rubio seeks to be a problem solver and to build bridges among communities.

“I will be the person committed to listening to all stakeholders to achieve a solution or goal, to know all sides of an issue” she said in an interview with the Oregonian. “That’s the only way you can truly tackle things at their root cause.”