NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 13, 2012
CONTACT: Kent Love, 517-432-6959, kent.love@law.msu.edu
U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Cordray to Address MSU Law Graduates
East Lansing, MI — Richard Cordray, director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), will present the Michigan State University College of Law commencement address on Friday, May 11, 2012. Cordray will speak to Class of 2012 graduates and their guests at the MSU Auditorium at 11 a.m.
Cordray is the first director of the CFPB. Prior to joining the Bureau, he served as attorney general of Ohio, where he recovered more than $2 billion for Ohio's retirees, investors, and business owners, and was a key proponent in protecting its consumers from fraudulent foreclosures and financial predators.
Cordray previously served as treasurer of the State of Ohio and of Franklin County, where he led government banking, investment, debt, and financing activities. As state treasurer, he resurrected a defunct economic development program that provides low-interest loan assistance to small businesses to create jobs. Earlier in his career, Cordray was an adjunct professor at the Ohio State University College of Law, a state representative for the 33rd Ohio House District, the first solicitor general in Ohio's history, and a sole practitioner and of counsel to Kirkland & Ellis. He has argued seven cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including by special appointment of both the Clinton and Bush Justice Departments. He is a graduate of MSU's James Madison College, Oxford University, and the University of Chicago Law School. Cordray was editor-in-chief of the University of Chicago Law Review and later clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Anthony Kennedy.
A total of 332 Law College graduates will be recognized at the commencement ceremony, including 295 J.D. and 37 LL.M. degree recipients. John F. Schaefer, '69, will receive the Honorable George N. Bashara, Jr., Distinguished Alumni Award at the event. Schaefer is one of the country's best-known and most highly respected lawyers in the field of matrimonial law, which he has practiced for more than four decades. He also is a trustee emeritus who taught Family Law for more than 30 years as an adjunct professor at the Law College. Schaefer recently made a $6 million gift to name the Law College Library and endow a chair in matrimonial law—the first fully endowed chair in Law College history.
The faculty speaker for commencement will be MSU Law Professor Clark C. Johnson. Professor Johnson served as assistant attorney general of Michigan and was a partner in the law firm of Schmidt, Nahas, Coburn and Johnson. He joined the Law College faculty in 1973 and served as associate dean from 1984 to 1985. He has published in the areas of commercial law as well as medicine and law. He teaches Equity, Contracts, Equity, Insurance Law, Medical-Legal Problems, Mortgages, Property, and Secured Transactions.
Graduating student Amy Miller was selected to be the student speaker for commencement. Jennifer Stallings, another member of the Class of 2012, will sing the national anthem.
Michigan State University College of Law, a leading institution of legal education with a long history of educating practice-ready attorneys, prepares future lawyers to use ethics, ambition, and intellect to solve the world's problems. As one of only a few private law schools affiliated with a major research university, MSU Law offers comprehensive interdisciplinary opportunities combined with a personalized legal education. After 100 years as a private and independent institution, the affiliation with MSU has put the Law College on an upward trajectory of national and international reputation and reach. MSU Law professors are gifted teachers and distinguished scholars, its curriculum is rigorous and challenging, and its facility is equipped with the latest resources—all affirming MSU Law's commitment to educating 21st-century lawyers.
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