Roberta Cooper Ramo

A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Colorado, Roberta Cooper Ramo earned her law degree from the University of Chicago. She has received six honorary degrees. She is a partner with New Mexico’s largest law firm—Modrall Sperling, P.A. Mrs. Ramo concentrates her practice in transactional work and arbitration. She has particular expertise in working with large corporate and nonprofit entities in strategic planning and governance.

In 1995, Mrs. Ramo became president of the American Bar Association (ABA), the first woman in history to head the world’s largest organization of attorneys. Mrs. Ramo was the first woman to serve as president of the American Law Institute (ALI), and is the only lawyer to be both president of the ALI and the ABA. She served as president and then chair of the ALI board from 2008-2020. She is president emeritus and received the ALI’s distinguished service medal in 2023.

Mrs. Ramo is on the board of the Santa Fe Opera and is chair of the board of Think New Mexico, a bipartisan think tank. She was an independent director of BlackRock Mutual Funds for 20 years and she served on the New Mexico State Board of Finance.

Mrs. Ramo was appointed by President Clinton to serve on the National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women. Mrs. Ramo also served on the five-member commission appointed by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), which made recommendations for reformation of the USOC. She was appointed by Senator John McCain to co-chair a committee to reform governance of the International Olympic Committee.

Mrs. Ramo is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is recognized in Who’s Who in America. She served for six years on the University of New Mexico’s board of regents and was president of the board for two years. During her tenure, she led the university in establishing a science and technology corporation. In 1993, she received the Governor’s Distinguished Public Service Award for community service in New Mexico. In 2000, Mrs. Ramo was made an honorary member of the Bar of England and Wales and of Gray’s Inn. In August 2015, she received the ABA Medal.