1944: Bella Abzug, a founding mother of feminism, a staunch supporter of gay and civil rights, and an international icon for human rights and world peace graduated from Columbia Law School.
1945: Elreta Alexander became the first black woman to graduate from Columbia Law School; she is followed by Constance Baker Motley '46, who was the first black woman to become a Manhattan borough president, New York state senator, and a federal judge.
1954: Jack Greenberg '48, in his capacity as counsel for the NAACP, successfully argued Brown v. Board of Education before the Supreme Court of the United States. Professor Greenberg joined the Columbia Faculty in 1984, where he continues to teach such courses in civil procedure and civil rights.
1971: Lee Bollinger, current President of Columbia University and lead defendant in the affirmative action Supreme Court case, Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), graduated from Columbia Law School.
