Heartiest congratulations are in order for Alvin R. Allison Professor of Law Jennifer Bard on her recent election to membership in the most prestigious professional organization in the legal profession. The American Law Institute (ALI). ALI was founded in 1923 by a group of prominent American Judges, Lawyers, and Law Teachers to address the uncertainty and complexity of early 20th-century American Law. Since that time ALI has devoted itself to improving the law and the administration of justice in a scholarly and scientific manner, and its membership has included the true luminaries of our profession – from Judges Benjamin Cardozo and Learned Hand in the early days to the greatest legal thinkers and scholars of today. The elected membership of ALI is selected from Judges, Lawyers and Law Teachers in the United States and many foreign countries on the basis of professional achievement and demonstrated interest in improving the law. ALI membership is limited to 3000; thus, election to membership is indeed a distinct professional honor.

It is testimony to the strength of our law faculty that Professor Bard joins Professors Marilyn Phelan, Bryan Camp, Bill Casto, Susan Fortney, and Brian Shannon as elected members of this most prestigious organization and they, along with your Dean, give us seven members of ALI at Texas Tech Law. Please join me in congratulating Alvin R. Allison Professor of Law Jennifer Bard on this singular professional achievement.